Title: The Turning
Author: Lyndaura
Author's Notes: This is weird, I do not know what I am doing.
Chapter 8 - Fight
It took me a long time to calm down. You can't imagine how glad I was that Daemon never mentioned my little breakdown to anyone. Forgetting about your problems is so much easier than dealing with them, don't you think? Too bad my problems tend to haunt me. There is no rest for lil' old me.
I was moved into Kara's room, and all my stuff was moved there too. Most of it was Kara's anyway, so I didn't really care that much. I was told that at the end of the week I would be moved to the 'free' room. Then again, the free room was the room that Drustan had, so I couldn't say that I was excited to be moving into a dead guy's old bedroom.
I had slept a lot after that, and Cirelle had brought me some food. She was actually a pretty good cook. Better than me, I burned water once. Seriously though, I did. I also tried to make macaroni and cheese, and I didn't know that I had to add butter. Veronica had so kindly pointed out that I needed to add butter, that I was a complete idiot, and that I should get some help.(1) I never did. I could live on ordered pizza for the rest of my life if I had to.
I was eating one of Cirelle's latest creations, an ice cream cake with lots of frosting. It tasted just like the one that I used to get at Diary Queen at the end of the street. I was busy pigging out when I heard a knock on the door and I groaned. I took a quick look at my handheld mirror (well, it was mine now). I had chocolate all over my face, and a nice touch of green frosting on my nose. How attractive.
Before I even could invite the person in, Daemon opened the door and came in. How thoughtful. What would had happened if I had been getting changed? Daemon probably would just keep talking to me like nothing was different. I could just imagine him telling me about some mission or whatever while I was throwing things at him, and trying to find clothing off the ground.
"What the hell do you want?" I asked, hiding under my covers. I wasn't read for any serious talks. What I was ready for, was more ice cream cake.
"I want to talk to you about what happened," Daemon sat down on the bed, lowering the edge, and making me nearly roll off the bed.
"Get off," I kicked Daemon and buried my face in the pillow, "Can't we just say that it never happened and leave it at that?" I was getting really annoyed.
"Do you even know what happened in there?" Daemon asked.
"Did you even hear me? First of all, I said get off, second of all, I said I didn't want to talk about it, and third of all, what kind of moron do you take me for? Of course I know what the fuck happened, I just don't want to talk about it! So get the hell off my bed!" I snapped at Daemon. What did you expect me to do, be nice?
"What do you think happened?" Daemon asked me. Wow, this guy was filtering everything I said. Now how was I supposed to piss him off?
I choose not to answer him at first, but Daemon sat there patient and calm, and I'm not patient, and rarely am I calm. I finally sat up and glared at him. Bitch time. "I think that the witches did that shit. Do you know how paranoid I was before this happened? Now how do you think I feel? This place is the closest I have to a home right now, and I don't even feel safe here anymore! What stops them from using the magic to hurt me? What stops them from killing me? What stops them for killing one of you? And then do you know whose fault it would be? It would be mine, because I would be the one they were after, and they would have hurt you to get to me. Do you know how that makes me feel? It makes me feel like not talking about this, so could you back off?" I yelled at him. By the end of my 'little' rant, my face was completely flushed with fury, the vein in the center of my head was popping out, and I had tears burning the sides of my eyes. I was just fine. Just peachy keen. Peachy fucking keen (2).
"Amazing," Daemon didn't move from the edge of the bed.
What the hell would he find so amazing? I didn't think I would ever get this guy, "What?"
"I think that is the first time since I met you, that you showed any concern for anyone else," Daemon was looking at my real funny, and I didn't like it. It was some weird gleam in his eye that just got me.
Besides, I showed concern, I did it all the time. How could he think that I was some selfish, self-righteous bitch? Well... maybe it was the first time that I had showed any concern for someone else since he had met me. I had felt concern, I'm sure of it, just I couldn't think of any examples.
But I was definitely feeling concern right then. I couldn't figure out why it was different now, but I was scared for them. Well, I guess all this shit would change anyone.
It was then that it hit me. Life is just so fragile. I was faced with death everyday now, and I saw it, and what it did to people, and had experienced what it was like to face death in the eye.
After that little revelation, I did the only natural and logical thing to do. I kicked Daemon in the ass really hard, "I said GET OFF MY BED!"
Daemon half snorted, half laughed at me, and then stood up, "Are you ready to do some training?"
"What kind of training?" At least we were on a new subject. Maybe I would like this one better.
Daemon smiled, and it was nicer, not as creepy as before, "Combat training." Yep. I liked this one a LOT more.
Then Daemon leaned over, and placed his finger on my nose, then wiped off the green frosting and licked his finger clean, "You taste good."
***
Well, after I had changed into some 'stylish' sweat pants and a clean black tank top, I went to the library to find my way to the gym. It took three doors, but I finally came to the elusive gym hall. On one side, there was a gym, on the other side, there was a training room, and at the end of the hall, the showers. I was disgusted to say the least, I could have found my way there by my nose. The smell was so bad, I could have sworn I was going to pass out.
I headed to the training side, where Kara was waiting for me.
"Hey Ferra," Kara smiled at me, like a cat with a canary in its mouth.
"What?" I asked and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped around, "Holy shit, you scared the fuck out of me!"
Daemon only cocked an eyebrow, "Now Kara, remember, she is here to train, not just to get her ass whooped," Daemon reminded cooly.
Kara smiled, "You always ruin my fun!"
"As much as I would love to stand here and talk about how much pain I'm going to be in, I think I would like to learn how to avoid getting killed, so can we get started?" I asked impatiently.
"I'm watching you Kara," Daemon warned one last time, and then left us to our ass kicking.
"Okay, first of all, I don't teach no Taekwondo or whatever, I teach you what I learned works, and what I feel works best against the things that we are going up against. Okay?" It was amazing how Kara got straight to work. It was like you flipped a switch, and she was all serious. I guess I should probably learn that technique, but you know me, I'm allergic to any form of seriousness or work.
"Got it," I nodded my head. I didn't care, I just honestly didn't care.
Kara then went to the corner of the room, where a pile of equipment lay. She dug through the large pile, and then pulled forth a dummy torso and head. She took out a pole, stuck the chest onto the pole and set it down in front of me.
"Meet Bob," Kara introduced the armless and legless dummy, "You'll be beating the crap out of him today."
"Fun," I smiled deviously. This was going to be great.
"So, what do you want me to do?" I asked standing in front of him.
"Make out with him," Kara sarcastically answered, "Attack him!"
"But you haven't taught me anything yet!" I didn't know the first thing about REAL fighting, what was I supposed to do? Claw it to death?
"Well, I want to see what I need to teach you first, I don't want to have to go over things that you already know. This is just to find out where you are," Kara stood back and waiting for me to mangle the thing.
I stretched my neck a little and tried to pump myself up. I wished I had a good CD or something to do this to, the silence was killing me! I started with a few good punches to the face. The dummy felt really weird, it was hard, but not stiff, so it moved and bent with the blows. I just kept at it, punching it, getting into a grove.
"Try some other moves," Kara groaned.
Why was she getting all frustrated with me? The whole reason why I was there was to learn these things, I wasn't supposed to know them, so how could she get angry when I didn't?
I shook my head and threw in a bad kick or two, as well as changed my beat, and instead of just straight punches, I added a few uppercuts.
"Okay, that's enough," Kara stood up and brushed off her pants, "You suck."
"Thanks, I tried just for you," I smiled back at her. What had crawled up her ass and died? Maybe that was why the room smelled so bad.
"Okay, first of all, you are far too slow, he would have taken you down in a second! You have to be fast and keep him on the defensive. Second of all, in order to be that fast, you have to have a good flow. You have no flow whatsoever. You are just kick, punch, punch. Nothing more. Listen, this is going to take a while."
And she was right. It took several hours. Most of it was just her showing me all the different moves that you could do, from choke holds, to kicks to aerial attacks. Most of those attacks were actually attacks that you used when you were in a different position.
"You'll never be attacking from the front like that, and if you are, you won't be like that for long, and he'll usually not be in a standing position, he'll be ducking, running away, coming at you from an angle, whatever, but he won't be like that," I have never seen Kara babble so much in my entire life. I guess she does that when she's passionate about something. Apparently, she was really passionate about fighting.
Kara continued to show me every possible position I could ever be in, and every possible position that my attacker could be in, and the attack that I was to do. The whole key was to keep attacking, no matter what position or situation I was in, that way, there was no room for counter attacks.
"What happens when you're down on the ground and he's standing over you?" I asked. I couldn't think of any real attack for that.
"That is actually one of my favourite moves. It took me three months to nail it down, but I finally got it, and its really intimidating when you're doing an actual fight," Kara grinned ear to ear and got down on the ground and then laid on her back. She spun off the ground and onto her right hand, so her arm and hand were her only support. Her legs were high in the air and she was able to kick three times, and then she fell back to the ground.
"Cool," I absent mindedly commented.
"It's a very difficult move, it takes a lot of energy to get that kind of motion and movement from that kind of position," Kara said, catching her breath, "But as you could see, when you kick, the first kick is to the groin, the man will automatically go to grab your foot, you then plant your other foot in his face, and use it as a push off point, so you can pull your other foot free, and then if you have time, you kick again."
I wasn't really listening as I laid down on my back. She was right, it was hard to push yourself off the ground and up onto one hand. Luckily, with a little shifting of my weight, I was able to get the speed that I needed to get up onto my arm, and I was able to kick twice, but I didn't have time for a third kick before my arm gave out from underneath me.
"How the hell did you do that so fast? It took me three weeks before I was able to get up on my arm," Kara snarled at me. I could feel the redness crawl up my face. This was crazy, she was crazy, and it looked like she wanted to kick my ass.
"Well, I had such a wonderful teacher," Kara just glared at me. Apparently she wasn't keen on flattery.
"So, now that I know the attack moves, what are the defensive moves?" changing subjects always helped. Well, usually.
"Well, maybe you don't need me to teach you self-defense if you're so good," Kara growled. She was scary, she really was. It was either get out of there, or be killed. Call me suicidal, but I stayed in there. Dear Lord help me, I stayed in there.
"Remember me? I'm slow, and I don't have enough variety in my attack moves. I still need your help in case someone actually fights back, and I have to do something else besides make out with Bob," putting yourself down and sarcasm work good too.
Kara finally softened up, and taught me how to get out of choke holds, and how to get out from underneath someone. I didn't try to outdo her from then on. Fighting was the only thing that she had in her life, and if I took that away from her, there would be hell to pay. So I stayed quiet and sat in my little corner, while Kara taught me everything she knew about fighting.
"Just remember to try to see the attacks coming, and then immobilize the person. You don't want them to be able to try another attack again," Kara displayed on George, the dummy WITH arms and legs. He even had targets painted on him that you were supposed to hit. I liked beating up guys, it was fun.
The hours droned on, and I could feel myself getting better and better. She was actually a really good teacher, and she knew what she was doing, and wasn't just fucking with me, like everyone else in my life always did. Everything was so different now, instead of algebra, I was learning how to use every part of my body as a weapon.
I was in the middle of sparring Kara when Daemon walked in a saw an interesting sight. I was laying on my back, with my legs wrapped around Kara's neck, while she was twisting her leg around my legs to try to flip me over on my belly. I stopped fighting as soon as Daemon walked in, unfortunately, Kara didn't. She nearly broke my legs as she flipped me over on my stomach. Good, wholesome, family fun.
"What did I tell you about kicking Ferra's ass?" Daemon asked as Kara helped me up. Pain, oh the pain...
"You told me not to JUST kick her ass, I did other stuff too," Kara smiled as I limped toward Bob and leaned against him. I was covered in sweat, and my face looked like a tomato.
"That's enough for today," Daemon ordered calmly.
I sighed and began my long limp out of the room, as I passed Daemon, he stopped me. "Oh, and Ferra?"
"Yeah?" I wasn't expecting it, and he caught me off guard.
"Take a shower, you smell like shit," Daemon pushed me toward the end of the hallway.
"Fine, fine!" I called back as I walked to the showers. I was laughing on the inside, it was fun to have people just joke with me. It was like the family I never had. It was nice to forget that my life was in danger, and any second my life could be over. I had to commemorate the moment with a joke, rude remark or some form of sarcasm. It took only seconds to think of. "Fine, I'll take a shower, but are you sure you don't want to come in too?" I asked turning seductively with a huge grin plastered on my face.
Daemon narrowed his eyes, trying to decide if I was serious or not. "I'm just kidding," I laughed, but I still had that creepy feeling I get sometimes when Daemon looks at me really intensely, like he's studying me or something.
Luckily the shower cured all my problems, and the creepy thoughts were all washed away, along with the sweat and dirt for a hard day's work.
***
I was getting changed in my room when Kara just waltzed right in. I nearly screamed, but Kara only laughed and turned around, "Sorry!" Kara giggled. What was it with people not knocking? I tried to cover my exposed chest and threw a pillow at her head. Because she was already turned around and heading out the door, the pillow hit her in the back of the head, and she turned around to glare at me. Okay, maybe that was more my fault than hers, but still...
"Stop that! Go get your own," I joked as I searched for a bra.
"I'll go get my own tits, when you go get your own bra!" Kara laughed and slid outside to wait for me to finish. As soon as she was outside, I locked the door so she couldn't get back inside. That'll teach her for walking in on me. I finally found a nice, padded, strapless bra. I put it on, and found some cool sparkly jeans with studs along the sides. I put them on, they fit perfectly.
I couldn't find a good shirt though, "Kara?" I called out, waiting for a response.
"What?" she impatiently shouted through the door.
"Do you have any funky shirts?" I asked, I could only find friggin' tank tops. All she had was blank tank tops! Ahh! They're coming to life and attacking me! Yeah... sorry.
"There's one hanging in my closet," Kara replied after a moment's thought.
I looked in her closet, and I found the stash. All the shirts in the closet were amazing. They were so unique and I had never seen anything like them before. I finally settled on a black shirt that was ripped diagonally along the bottom so it showed half my stomach, and it only had one strap. It also came with gloves that went up to my elbow and had pieces of cloth hanging down from them. The gloves didn't have any fingers to them though, and after taking a long look in the mirror, I was satisfied. I looked hot.
"Are you done yet?" Kara asked, kicking the door.
"No!" I called back, taunting her. I laughed as she grunted in frustration. I could tell by the angry 'thud' that she had slumped back against the door.
I bent over to put a discarded shirt back into a drawer when I saw feet. My head shot up and I was looking eye to eye with Eve. I screamed as loud as I could. In the back of my mind I could hear Kara pounding on the door and screaming at me, but all I could really hear was my heart pounding in my ears. Eve reached out and cupped her hand over my lips, as she swerved, so that she now standing behind me. I felt the tears biting at the sides of my eyes.
Why was this happening? This was so damn scary. Why was she here? Did the witches have something to do with this? Was Eve going to try to kill me? I couldn't think straight, all I wanted was out of there and away from Eve. She was the last person/hallucination/thing that I wanted to see right now.
"Shhh..." Eve tried to calm me down, but I just struggled against her, and began to kick at her skins and knee caps, trying to get her to let go, but then again, she's a hallucination, she can't feel. But if she wasn't real, why was she hurting me so much?
I could hear Daemon pounding on the door too, trying to get it to break down, but he was helpless. Eve was so strong. She was holding me with only on hand. Even after Kara's lessons, I was stuck. I was still tired from fighting Kara, and I couldn't possibly take on Eve. I relaxed, and stopped struggling, though I was still screaming my head off. I was used to screaming, that took no effort at all. I could never get tired from screaming.
Eve removed her hand from my mouth, and then I realized just how loud I was screaming. It hurt my own ears to hear myself. Eve was still holding me with one of her arms, but then she took her other one and she held something out in front of my face.
My cross.
I used to never take it off, and I don't know why I took it off before I went to that club three nights ago. I loved it to death, and just seeing it, stole my breath. Eve undid the clasp and pulled the chain around my neck. I was completely still. I was dreaming, I was hallucinating, I was doing anything but this, because this couldn't be real. Eve wasn't real. Nothing was real.
I closed my eyes, and the tears that I had been holding in came out. Every last bit of emotion that I could possibly feel came out. I was starting to hyper ventilate, and everything was getting dizzy, so many words were running through my head too fast. I had fallen to the ground, and I was rocking back and forth too quickly to control myself, everything outside of me and inside were going wild and insane. Everything felt so crazy. I was crying so hard it hurt, and my mind was jumbled and confused, repeating the same words over and over again till they seemed so real I could touch them.
Eve touched my back and I screamed again. Not in fear, or in anger, or even pain, but I just screamed because I had so much to scream about. Everything finally came down to a few words repeating in my head, till it became a steady statement, that just drifted and faded away.
Everything began to calm down and slow down. The room was crystal clear, and it seemed like every thought was in slow motion, even my actions were slow. I was breathing slowly, and when I tried to turn my head to look at Eve, I turned it slowly. I even blinked slowly.
Eve wasn't there, instead I saw Daemon finally bust down the door. Funny how he could only do it once Eve was gone. Riever was right behind him. Riever ran to my side and checked my pulse and pupils. Everyone was moving so fast. I was just glad that they were there though.
They were there.
It seemed so clear now. They were my new family, they were there for me, and they had my back, I didn't realize it before, but these people cared about me like a family would, looking out for each other. They barely knew me, but they were ready to risk everything for me. I felt so relieved, like I finally belonged. I needed to be there, with those people, because they were my new life, and they were everything to me now. I was overcome with a sudden sense of joy and relief. I hugged Riever tightly.
"You scared me," Riever whispered into my ear.
"I scared me too," and it was true. I had scared myself in more ways that I could count, but now, it seemed like everything was going to be okay. I had found my place, my safety, and my family. Suddenly, the world didn't seem that scary, and I felt a little less lost.
Riever just held me for a long time, and that's what I needed. I would tell him what had gone through my mind later, after I had regained my composure, and possibly some sanity too. Finally Kara kicked them all out of my room, and she gave me a big, long hug. What is with these people and their hugging? I wasn't used to it, not that I was complaining, it felt good to be cared for, but there was only so much you could do when you were being hugged. Besides, the change that I had seen in Kara was too big for it to make sense. It was like tough bitch until she got talking about fighting, then she was all babbling and excited, and then when you were visited by your local phantom, she turned all gushy.
"Damn you," Kara chuckled softly.
"What?" I asked, what the hell did she mean?
"You look too good after crying and screaming like that, you aren't natural," Kara laughed.
"But its true, I'm not natural!" I joked, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn't natural. I was now part of the night world, I was in fact, a creature that went bump in the night. I was a vampire. "I'm a vampire." It was weird to hear myself say that, but I felt comfortable saying it. Only my body had changed, my mind was still my own, and that was fine with me.
"Not yet you aren't," Kara rolled her eyes.
"What do you mean?" okay, this is news to me...
"In order to be a vampire, you have to feed. So, unless you and Riever had some fun time, and you got a little hungry, I don't think you count as a vampire yet," Kara tossed me a huge black belt, "Put it on, it looks great with those pants."
I put it on, "Sorry, but I don't think I'll ever feed," I couldn't stand the thought of sucking someone else's blood.
"Well, I guess now I can sleep a little better," Kara grabbed my arm and hauled me out of our room.
"I wouldn't be too sure," I warned her, "your soft, supple neck just cries out to me!" Kara just glared at me. "Oh, and by the way o soft and chewy one, where are we going?"
"Well, Daemon will want to have a chat with you because none of us even knows what went on in there, and I don't think you need that shit right now," Kara stopped to explain.
"Neither do I," I agreed with her.
"Great, then you're coming with me!" Kara smiled and tugged me along.
"Ferra? Kara?" Daemon intercepted us, just as we were heading for the door in the library that lead to the outside world.
"What?" Kara asked, still squeezing my arm tightly.
"Where are you going?" Daemon asked.
"Out," Kara answered.
"Are you going to the fights?" Daemon demanded.
"No!" Kara replied, and then pushed past Daemon.
As soon as the door was shut behind us, and we were up the long flight of stairs, I asked, "Where ARE we going?"
Kara answered with a big smile, "The fights!"
I shook my head. She was starting to remind me a lot of... well... me! I was running up the stairs to catch up to Kara when I felt something banging against my chest. I looked down and saw my cross. Eve was gone, and my cross was still there.
"Kara?" I asked stopping and examining it, "Can you see necklace?"
Kara stopped and turned around, "Yeah, sure, its cool, where did you get it?"
~End Chapter 8 - Fight~
(1) My friend actually burnt water. I was there, she left the pot boiling too long, and then when there was no more water, the pot burned. *_* My other friend, Amanda made Mac&Cheese without butter for like, years, and then when she was over at another one of my friend's house (Katie), Katie was making it, and she put butter in it, and Amanda argued with her for half an hour about it, until Katie fished the box out of the garbage to show her the instructions. Amanda's famous words were, "So that's why mine always tasted funny." Sorry, long story.
(2)I know, line from Jaw Breaker (movie), so sue me. Well, maybe not...
Author's Notes: The whole weird thing after Eve came, and Ferra was freaking out, is actually what happens to me after I have a mental breakdown. Fun eh? And more real plot coming soon!