Okay, another story I have started of which I am not sure where to go with it. No beta reader has looked over it, so, I expect quite a few mistakes.
Not much to say, enjoy.
xxxxx
It was scary, lying in a hospital bed after one of the worst experiences in my life, doubting my sanity. Not knowing whether or not I was sane anymore, not being able to trust myself. It was terrifying and I feared my dad finding out about it more than anything, so I kept my mouth shut, just staring at the feet of my bed, not meeting his eyes as he sat beside me, looking as if he had aged years.
He wasn't talking right now, just holding my hand, and I was grateful for it. We weren't the touchiest family in the world but right now, at this moment, body contact felt really good.
It had been a few days since Emma, my once best friend and her two cronies Sophie and Madison had stuffed me into a locker filled with bloody tampons, pads, other female hygiene products, trash, bugs and my own vomit for hours, leaving me catatonic and delirious by the time I got out.
Only, I got out on my own and I can't tell why. All I remember is this feeling of helplessness, of needing help, crying for it and I recall a golden figure tearing the door of the locker open.
I don't know if that's true or if I was just delusional after hours in that particular hell. Fact is, I had been found on the floor, covered in filth, shivering and trashing on the ground, unconscious.
It had freaked me out once I woke up in the hospital. Of course, afterwards, thinking about it, I had suspected that I developed some kind of super powers but now, days after waking up, I had nothing to show for it. The police had said that it was very unlikely that I had kicked it open by myself, seeing that the lock was cut, so, they speculated that someone with a guilty conscience had opened it. The lack of a phone call to the police or an ambulance supported that theory, only, alongside the fact that no one said they saw someone opening the locker, despite a lot of people standing there and not doing anything about it or telling anyone. It just didn't feel like something that any of my three tormenters would do. With the fake befriending of that girl and the two week wait, alongside the preparation of leaving all that waste inside my locker over winter break, it was a lot of trouble and effort to make me suffer and it seemed naïve to think that any one of them would feel even an ounce of guilt or shame.
If they were capable of that, they never would have done any of the things they had done over the last one and a half years.
The most likely explanation was that someone else on the higher end of the social food chain had decided to do something about a young girl being stuffed into the locker filled with human waste and people didn't say anything to protect him or her from the wrath of Emma's group.
I don't know what's more unlikely, me having developed a superpower that doesn't seem to have any application that I can see except cutting a lock, which I can't even emulate right now in any shape or form or that someone with some form of personal ethics and backbone doing something to help me.
Then there is this golden figure, was it a blond boy who done such? I couldn't think of anyone like that. Was he or she real? Was it a manifestation of my power? Had I imagined them?
It scared and frustrated me. There is no expressing the level of disappointment I felt when the thought of becoming a cape had crossed my mind. That I was to have powers and do something with my life, make a difference in people's lives.
To have that hope torn after that particular experience was crushing and depressive. Without that, what did I have going for me?
A loser of a lonely girl who got bullied to the extent that someone didn't even want to take credit for helping me. Someone that a lot of people felt comfortable leaving in a locker filled with my own puke and tampons for an extended period of time. Daughter to a father to whom I was nothing but a load on finances, stress and disappointment. Above average grades in a public school that did not exactly have high standards.
And now, maybe delusions and a cracked sanity.
I blinked the tears away, as a sob trembled through my throat as my father's grip on my hand got stronger.
I knew he felt about as bad as I did, with the way things developed on the legal side. We didn't have the money to go to court and there was not enough on proof, any proof, on that matter to actually do anything about the people who had done this to me and no one was stepping forward to testify, so we had to settle with the school covering my hospital stay and that was pretty much it.
No justice, no closure, just more of the same once I returned to school and I wasn't gullible enough to believe that things would be any better. Maybe I would get a brief time of peace in case they were looking for the person who had released me but then again, I doubt they cared much, seeing I had been in there for quite some time and I did end up hospitalized, which must have been their goal, alongside the humiliation.
I couldn't get myself to believe that they actually wanted me dead.
Then, for a second, something golden appeared on the periphery of my right eye and I whirled my head around only to see nothing.
"Taylor." spoke my father tentatively, as he sat on my bed, putting one of his hands on my shoulder, looking worried, while the other wiped away the tears that had started to escape my eyes.
Of course this sudden reaction had worried him but how could I tell him that I was seeing things? It would make things so much worse for him and I doubted that the school would cover the medical bills for an extended visit to a psychiatric ward.
And of course there was the bitter truth that I did not want to get labelled as the crazy girl alongside everything else.
"Nothing, dad. Just thought I saw something."
No, I couldn't be a burden on my father any more.
xxxxx
We had left the hospital yesterday, a Wednesday, and the doctor had given me leave of school for the rest of the week and the week after that, saying that I could go to school on Monday if I felt like it but that I could also stay at home if I didn't think I could handle it. It was a generous offer, one that I didn't think I was strong enough to refuse.
Right now, I was walking through the outer skirts of the city, on the higher parts of the bay, a few minutes away from the market. It was day, not even noon and while it wasn't exactly the safest place in the world, it wasn't particularly dangerous either. I had taken the pepper spray that my father had insisted I carry from now on with me, but honestly, I didn't care about it right now.
Here I was, staring down the cliffs, seeing the water below. I didn't stand too close as I didn't want to attract too much attention. Since it was so close to the market, there were always people passing by here for a stroll and the last thing I wanted was to make scene, with even more people talking, whispering about me.
If Emma and the others ever found out, I don't think I could manage. Then again, I am not handling things very well right now either. The thought of Emma generated a spark of anger within myself. Would she feel guilty? Bad? I doubted it, would probably get a laugh out of this. Maybe she would fake a few tears and even get sympathy from the teachers. She would probably get away with stuff in the future even easier. 'The last girl I took a dislike too ended up dead' is a strong motivator on not getting on her bad side.
No, not like this. I wouldn't let her win like this.
I took a deep breath and turned. No matter how grim it looked right now, I couldn't end it like this, maybe I was mad and pathetic but maybe there was more.
There was no way I would leave things as they were right now, not without having exhausted every possibility.
xxxx
Monday, I returned to school. The few days at home, with my father, had been nice enough but ultimately had proven to be stressing and uncomfortable. We both walked on eggshells, too fearful to engage in any serious topics, dancing around the huge elephant in the room. Every conversation we started died out rather soon in a very uncomfortable manner, and hadn't done us any favours.
No, I needed to get out of that house and I was behind my school-load as it was, so, it made only sense that I returned to school. It proved to be a mistake fairly soon, however.
Despite my cries for help in the locker, I didn't expect anyone to have pity or mercy for the freshly hospitalized girl, so I knew that no one would step up and say anything, but despite everything, it still surprised me, that Emma, Sophie, Madison and their flock of followers almost immediately picked up from where they left off in the first recess.
"God Taylor, I can't believe you would show your ugly face right that again here." said Emma, a cruel glint in her eye as her pretty face seized me up and down. "Surely, you must have some modicum of pride in that ugly body."
I didn't say anything, not feeling strong enough to open my mouth without embarrassing myself any further.
"Crawling right back, it's a shame that they allow your sort in here."
It wasn't the most imaginative session this time, albeit still very distressing. Obviously, my showing up at school so soon had caught them of guard, as they had probably expected me to stay away for longer. I couldn't quiet tell whether it angered them that I had been seemingly less affected by their elaborative plot or if they were gleeful for having their favourite victim back.
Knowing them, most likely a combination of both. It didn't take long for them to douse me in O.J. and tear my backpack a bit. Luckily, I had no books with me today and only an empty notebook alongside a bottle of water. My pepper spray I had with me but it was concealed in the pockets of my jeans. True, I could have used it right now to ruin at least someone's day, most likely Emma's or Sophie's and I do not deny that it would have felt good but I didn't delude myself that that feeling would last long. I would get beaten by the rest and they would all say I had attacked them unprovoked like a psycho with a weapon. That would ruin my education and future.
Not to mention the inevitable retaliation and I didn't want to know to what point they could escalate beyond the locker with bloody tampons and pads.
So, I did nothing, once again and I hated myself for it.
"Truly, you have some admirable self-restraint." remarked an unfamiliar voice. My eyes shot towards the direction I've heard the comment came from and I gasped.
It was the golden figure and now I could see him clearly, standing to my right. Immediately I knew that I was either crazy or that I was the only one who can see him because there was no way that everyone would be ignoring him like that.
He was tall, clad in very distinctive and intricate but still old fashioned armour, with an impressive red cloak over his shoulders. He had no helmet which allowed me to see his handsome, bearded face, which seemed to the face of someone who lost a lot of his physical beauty to stress and hunger. He had blond hair that was almost golden itself and very noticeable green eyes. An impressive sword with a golden hilt that appeared to have a lion's head on its end was on his side, on which one gauntlet was resting.
A fucking knight was standing here in the girl's bathroom and no one was saying a peep.
Before I could say anything, I was roughly shoved and stumbled hard against the bathroom wall.
"It's rude to ignore us Taylor." admonished Emma with a mocking voice, which got a laugh from a few of the girls.
"I do fancy myself rather well versed in combat but I have never heard of the strategy of letting the assailants do everything they want without doing a thing about it. Has it come to popularity after my passing, I wonder?"
His words made me angry, angrier than the cutting remarks of the girls and he met my glare with a smile that was uncomfortably close to a smirk.
"Where are you looking, freak?" interrupted Sophie's voice my thought before she slammed her left forearm into my throat, pressing me hardly against the wall, cutting of my breath.
The man sighed, as he stepped forward.
"Well, I do not have any more honour to lose by fighting a little girl, as I seem to have lost mine a long time ago. Allow me."
With that, he stepped right through Sophie as if she wasn't there and entered my body. It didn't feel any different than before but suddenly, my hands that were until now grasping and clawing at Sophie's steely arm let go and with surprising force jabbed her into the solar plexus with my knuckles.
The athlete stepped back with an angry grunt, looking at me with a tentative and suspicious look.
"A bad time for you to discover bravery, Hebert." she said, her voice lacking emotion.
"You're a nasty piece of work, aren't you?" the knight mused loudly with my voice and mouth, and I felt my mouth twisting into the same smile that I had seen on my passenger before. It was eerie, to be possessed, but what disturbed me most was how accepting I was of this.
An unknown entity had taken over my body and was using it to attack my tormenters and I was fine with it.
Sophie's eyes narrowed as she went into a fighting stance, her muscles coiled. I saw how she favoured one leg over another and I realized, from her stance alone, in which way she would most likely attack.
I knew preciously little about fighting so, I had to suspect that it was the knight whose knowledge this was.
By now, I, or more accurately, we, were standing again and I felt how much he, or maybe even we, were looking forward to this and that send a jolt of fear through my spine. I didn't want this, not like that. I didn't want someone else to beat up Sophie, to make this go away. If I was a parahuman, and it seemed almost certain that I was, I didn't want my first act to be beating up a bunch of school girls, even if they were all horrible beings and very well deserving of a solid beating.
But it wouldn't be me, who would win, it would be the knight and the cliché I was living aside, I did not want to be a damsel who was rescued by the knight. If anything, I wanted to swing the sword myself.
Approval surged through me, a warm feeling that I could find myself get used to, as I expelled the knight from my body, my shoulder slumping, my muscles loosening as all the information about fighting and human bodies and knowledge about brawls left my head. I saw him "step" to the side, which distracted me enough to not see Sophia's fist coming, as it smashed into my cheek.
Xxxxxx
Snippet 2
When I woke up, we were alone, and I saw the concerned face of the knight quickly change into a more self assured one.
Before I could ask the question that was on my lips, he started talking.
"Not even ten minutes, your lovely friends left after you lost consciousness, although the enthusiastic wench availed herself to one last kick to your ribs. I wanted to intervene but alas, as you see, I can't really do anything. I had always thought that young boys were the cruellest creatures on earth but it seems young girls are not to be left behind in that regard. I do know not why this comes as a surprise to me; my sweet sister should have been proof enough of that."
I felt the throbbing in my sides but it seemed to just be a slight bruising with any serious injury, a glance at the mirror showed me that my left cheek had started to turn into an ugly blue. Bad and obvious but nothing threatening. Still, I did not want dad to see. Well, nothing to do about that and besides, I had far more important things to worry about.
"Who are you? And why did I only see you in glimpses?" I was blunt and not necessarily polite and I should be more wary than I was but I was exhausted and faint, not only from the fight and the black-out but with relief as well. I was not insane; I had triggered and had developed an ability. Now, I just had to figure out what it was.
And how a ghost-knight whom only I could see played into all this.
"This seems all to be a rather cruel jape by the gods, although I gather there would be many a person who would claim I deserve this and worse." The knight mused, his left gauntlet scratching his chin.
"There appear to be a great many limitations to what I can do. When I appeared in front of the little cage you were stuck into, naturally I wanted to open it. Unfortunately, as you see, I do have a bit of trouble touching things." His hand went through the wall as if it wasn't there.
"So, I was getting slightly frustrated, and concerned, this whole magic thing is beyond my knowledge, you must understand and suddenly, I could. I drew my sword and cut the lock but immediately afterwards I was gone again and it took me a few, days, I think that was, before I could pull myself together again to appear again. Very uncomfortable feeling, that. Like a very exhausting sleep. Or death, not sure if you know that feeling. After which, I took a stroll through this fascinating city, the disgustingly foreign yet oddly familiar cesspool that it is. People didn't have to seem changed that much although you do seem to have an excess of abominations, whores and people while there is a concerning lack of swords."
My mind whirled, trying to process all that. Did that mean I had a ghost that could materialize himself for a second once every few days? That seemed like a grossly unfair limit, given the existence of people like Eidolon or Alexandria, who, to my knowledge, didn't seem to suffer from such an immense drawback.
"You didn't say who you are." I said, still feeling oddly calm and secure. This couldn't be normal and it scared me that this didn't scare me.
"As you can clearly see, I am a raunchy tavern wench, who-"
"Be serious!" I snapped, my patience with this person and his smarmy comments coming to its end. I had just received a beating and discovered that my power seemed lacklustre and fairly annoying and I did not have it in me to suffer yet more insults after Emma.
"Ah, forgive my japes, my lady. It seems that my tongue is still getting me into trouble. A habit I fear I will never completely shrug." He said, nodding his, his voice more solemn. "but I fear this would a be longer conversation and I am uncertain that this would be the best place for such a discussion. I admit, talking in what seems to be a unnecessarily sophisticated privy. Maybe it is the best place, as it has a certain irony to it, seeing that we are both going to say a lot of shit."
I had splashed my face with water and dried myself, not certain on how to answer. On one hand, I really wanted, no, needed to know. On the other hand, it wasn't as if he was wrong. I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to, since I still had class. Even if I just said screw this and remained here to talk, fact is that anyone could walk in here and see me talking to myself. If I had a cell phone, I could at least pretend to talk to someone over that but I didn't have one, unfortunately.
The last thing I needed was for people to say I had gone crazy.
"Fine, but we will talk later." I relented and walked out of the bathroom. I wanted to return home but that too would be too much like losing and Emma didn't need an additional victory.
I was going to class, I was going to sit through the remaining day and I would find out what I could and could not do with my, or our, powers.
And I would know who that annoying knight was.
A minute later, I was seated again, the teacher, Mr. Gladly, had briefly asked if I was okay, seeing the bruise on my face and my limp but it had been unsurprisingly easy to convince him that it was nothing and he, as always, let it go, continuing with his lesson as it was.
Unsurprisingly, the mystery knight had followed me, standing right next to my seat as if he was my bodyguard, left hand resting on the tilt of his sword while he looked at the people in my class.
Depending from when and where he hailed, the concept of school might very well be foreign to him. Then again, he might just be a projection of my mind and wasn't that sad that my trigger had been a knight coming to my rescue?
What did it say about me that he was rude and sarcastic?
His face was sporting a frown.
"You should not have declined his help, my lady, but as a maester, he should be more concerned about your injury. It was ill-handled, by the both of you. The bruise will heal on its own but it's your ribs I worry about."
I didn't answer, of course, talking out-loud would be stupid on an unprecedented level, so I just shrugged. I wondered what a master was, maybe an older word for teacher?
"Very well."
Mr. Gladly, as always, was talking animatedly about the current subject, parahuman relations, and I guess I should have been paying more attention, seeing that it was going to concern me from now on a lot more than before, but I couldn't really concentrate on anything else but the man next to me, as he seemed to study the students and the teacher.
"The more he talks, the more he loves himself for it." said the knight after a while. "He should have become a priest or a member of the council."
I cracked a smile at that, glad to see that I was not the only one who had a dislike towards Mr. Gladly. Still, was it a coincidence or did that mean that he was part of myself in some sort of way?
His gaze had wandered behind me, where I knew Madison was seated. No doubt did he recognize her.
I turned my head, and saw Madison smirk at me, her hand innocently tapping against the same spot on her face where I had a blue swelling.
I immediately turned back towards the teacher, my face burning with anger. That bitch!
"I admit I am not well acquainted with girls, nor do I know how to deal with them, but they seem to be not that different from the pettiness and squabbles of boys, except for the teats, so, it should work just as well. Be crueller to them than they are to you."
I shook my head as subtly as I could, which wasn't all that subtle, probably. It wasn't exactly the sage advice or new revelation that I had been looking for.
"That one doesn't seem that smart of strong. She looks pretty enough," he admitted, "but that doesn't protect one from a good sword as the other two, in my experience."
A bit shifty of a knight to propose to kill a teenage girl so quickly and it must have shown on my face.
"Spare me those looks, girl." he said, suddenly sounding tired. "It was a jest." he sighed and from that moment on, he was quiet for the rest of the day.
Way to make me feel shitty, as I tried to shift my focus back on Mr. Gladly and his lesson.
xxxx
Later, after school, I was on my way home, my silent companion at my side at every step. Ever since that moment, he hadn't said anything and even though I had wanted to wait until we were in my room, I didn't think could take any more of this.
"I apologize if I have offended you.." I started, unsure what to say but an apology seemed to be the safe way to start this. "it caught me off guard, it's all."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him sigh.
"No, it is I who has to apologize. My jape was ill-timed." he ran a hand through his short hair. "I would not actually harm a young girl like that."
I am not sure I believed him. I wanted to, but if he was my projection, it wouldn't be as much as believing him as it would be in believing in myself, to believe that I would never cross that line just because I hated that person.
And I didn't want to become such a person.
"I know." I said and it sounded as hallow as his words, and he knew it. That was a good way to start things off.
It relapsed into silence once more, with only the noise of the city and that of my steps. It wasn't a particularly dangerous neighbourhood, but not exactly save either. I had been jogging for a few weeks and so far had no trouble but I knew that could change at a moment's notice.
As such, I wasn't entirely surprised when I heard a yell and some screaming from nearby the corner. A mugging? An assault? Gangs? Something worse?
Normally, the sensible thing would be to run away and call the cops but the knight's arm shot in front of me, his other hand slowly unsheathing his golden sword.
"Wait here." he ordered and hurried around the corner. It was a convenient way to scout, without putting me in danger but it was also time consuming, time in which I could and should have acted in some way, other than standing here, doing nothing.
He returned.
"Two bandits robbing an oddly dressed man, rather enthusiastically, I may add."
If only I had a cell phone.
"Can we do that thing again?" I asked, my voice calmer than I felt. He looked at me, a bit incredulous.
"Truly? Yes, I believe we could." A smile appeared on his face. "And I think we shall enjoy it very much. Two outlaws are a much better enemy than young girls."
"Hurry." I just said and watched as he stepped into me.
Confidence and anticipation for a good fight were the two emotions that stood out. An itch in my right hand, as if I felt, no needed to grasp a weapon with it, a sword.
Only we had none.
"We lack a weapon." him stating the obvious with my voice was a bit annoying.
"We can still fight like this, right?" I needed to help, I don't know why but there was someone innocent in danger and now, finally, I could help.
He snorted. It was all the answer I needed. We ran around the corner and I saw how two Asian men, members of the Azn Bad Boys as the colours they were wearing proclaimed, had one man gripped tightly and were hissing at him. Well, one was, the other was patting down the pockets, obviously looking for valuables, holding a baseball bat with his free hand.
I wanted to say something but the knight beat me to it.
"If it would please you, could you perhaps unhand that good man, ser's?" he said, my voice dry as an haughty smirk tugged on my lips.
The arrogance and confidence in my voice must have left an impression on them, as they did push him away roughly, and immediately prepared themselves for a fight.
In a world where a woman could punch through steel and where a child could throw energy beams around, a small girl, acting all confident would raise a few alarm bells.
"Go the fuck away, bitch!" the one on the left, brandishing his knife, hissed.
The smile on my face widened, as I felt pure excitement and anticipation flood through my body.
"Of course, it pleases me more if you resist."
The one with the baseball bat attacked with a fast dash but it seemed obvious that he was not a trained fighter.
His grip was weak, his stance shaken and he had raised his weapon so, that I could step aside quite easily when he swung at me, nearly hitting the ground with it. However, that left him open and with one fluid step, I smashed my fist against his nose, harder than I could have normally done.
With a yell, he dropped the bat, which I immediately picked up. It didn't feel quite right, since it wasn't a sword and the weight and form just seemed wrong but it was better than nothing.
Before I could do think, the bat descended on the head of the robber who had his face covered with both of his hands.
"Well, I can't exactly hack you to pieces with this," I spoke, as I strode towards the remaining robber, whose eyes had widened as his snarl had deepened and he gripped his knife harder, his hands shaking. "but I will certainly give it my best try."
I wanted him to attack, I wanted him to give me an excuse to fight more. It had been long, too long since I last could do this.
He spun around and ran away. It was disappointing, but just as well. We had saved someone. That was a chivalrous deed done right.
As we turned to him, he was already running away, already speaking into his phone, no doubt calling the police.
The man on the ground, was still, unconscious, with a bit of blood visible on the ground from his nose but it was too dark to see if he had a head wound but I found myself not caring all that much.
We ran too, and I felt him leaving my body, running on my side.
He was grinning, a satisfied smile on his face, while I still had the baseball bat in my hand, as we put as much distance between the place as we could. To be safe, with him watching whether or not we were followed, we took the long way home.
We had saved someone, even if that someone felt ungrateful or threatened by us. Still, we had done something good. I wasn't sure whether or not it was stupid of me to have done so without covering my face but I hadn't exactly displayed any sorts of powers. Avoiding one attack by a thug and hitting them with a baseball bat didn't exactly scream cape. It was also quite dark and I wasn't that memorable, lacking feminine traits that others usually paid attention to. It was a risk nonetheless but one I found myself glad taking.
"It has been some time since I last enjoyed myself like this." he said, as I opened the door of my house. I nodded, feeling the same, oddly enough.
It had been dangerous, it had been risky and spontaneous where I hadn't prepared myself at all for such a situation, not knowing clearly how our powers worked, yet I had enjoyed every second of it, even the part where I had brained another person with a baseball bat without hesitation.
I closed the door behind me, yelled a quick greeting to my dad and quickly made my way too my room.
"Well," he said, while I put my backpack down and turned to him "here we are. What would you have of me?"