Taylor thought about it, but in reality, from the beginning, there was only one answer possible for her. She needed something to hold on to. Shadow Stalker was a lifesaver, the first person in a long time with which she had felt… safe, with which she could let her guard down and not think about what to say and how to act. Something like a friend.
So she called her. She didn't have a phone, but she had a landline telephone.
She had half expected the girl to regret making the offer, that she would ignore her call. She answered, seemingly pleased.
That same day they meet, and Stalker started teaching her how to fight in the top of a building. A little late, so the session would fit between her patrols as a Ward. She was a little impatient, irritable and she didn't pull her punches without consideration to the fact that she was a complete newbie, but she wasn't a bad teacher. Too soon to obtain results, of course, but she didn't think she was. She allowed her to rest after… a while.
She surprised herself, realizing that she couldn't tell how much time. Her life had begun to be slow, tortuous, minutes becoming hours. But this… it had been fun. It was worth being shore all over.
"Taylor." Stalker said. "I know what happened to you, saw it with my own eyes. Why didn't you fight back?"
The Wards didn't have to go to Arcadia, she reminded herself.
"You saw?" her straightforward tone was dyed with a profound sense of betrayal. "And you didn't help me? You don't need to use your power to fight."
"I wanted to help you. I'm sure is hard to believe after that, but is the truth."
"Why not?" her heart was agitated. Too much. They meet each other yesterday, but she had put the remains on Taylor Hebert in her hands… and she was crushing them.
"Because, in this world, the only thing you can count on is your own strength." Stalker said. "I hoped you would open your eyes."
"I tried to do something, in the beginning. Nothing worked."
"What? Relay on the faculty? You heard me, Taylor. Your own strength. If you had resisted, I would have helped you. But you let them turn you into a victim."
She didn't know what to feel.
"I guess… you're right." Yeah. She had spend the last three months without lifting a finger, dragging herself to Winslow every morning for a reason no even herself understood exactly. "I won't be one again, no matter what happens."
Stalker gave her a slap on the back.
"That's how you start." with those grounds, she rose from the ground. "Come, let's do it again."
Taylor Hebert started the day with enthusiasm. Stalker had told her to run, with an established minimum distance that she would gradually increase, and speeding up the rhythm as she went and other exercises.
It was something to do, it allowed her to distract herself and live in the moment. IAs close as she was going to crossing the skies under her own power.
She should have done it much sooner.
"Taylor." her father said, as they had breakfast. His expression was hard to read. "They called me from Winslow, said that you skipped classes for a week without justification and that, the last day you went, you had a fight with Emma. Why?"
She had bothered to come out with a good lie, she only went running instead of the school without telling anything to him. She hadn't expected them to call, wouldn't be the first time that they didn't fulfill their duties, so she hadn't thought about what she would say if things came to this point.
"Taylor, please. Tell me was going on. Are they…?"
"Yeah. Never stopped, and Emma was part of it from the start." she admitted. The expression of her father twisted because of pain and, yes, betrayal. It hurt him that she didn't trust him. She looked down. "I don't want to go back to that place, talk about it or even think of it."
"I understand, but… your education is important." understand? He didn't understand anything. For an instant, she was back in the locker. The darkness, the smell, her agitated breathing growing weaker.
"There are other means. Leave it be, okay?" she held her gaze, with tears in her eyes. The person she was, and the person she was trying to build. She wanted to keep them separate, like they were strangers. This conversation was a painful reminder of everything that had happened. "Okay?
Danny, after a pause in which his gaze reflected self hatred and sorrow, nodded.
"You should go back." Stalker told her, sitting in the edge of the building, under the ashen sky. "You are hiding from them."
"...Is not worth it."
"You are afraid of them, despite everything. Remember. The only thing a person can count is his own strength. Don't expect me to let you come with me on patrols, if you hide from girls of your age."
"Okay." she said, despite herself. "I will do it."
Next day, like she had promised, Taylor Hebert came back to Winslow. Usually she arrived a bit late on purpose, when the students were on their classrooms, because the period of waiting so the belt rang and class officially started was perfect for suffering another trick of the trio. Not this time.
Like sharks smelling blood in the water, Emma, Madison and a handful of girls vaguely familiar came close to her. Sophia was few meters back, observing.
"Oh, Taylor. Good to see you. I was afraid you wouldn't never again show your face here." Emma said, sardonically, her expression twisted with incandescent anger. The fight was not something she could forget.
She felt like something was twisting her heart, seeing how the girl who had been her best friend looked at her, despite everything. Not even two years. How had everything gone so wrong? She shoved that train of thought aside. The reasons were meaningless, only what was.
"If you want to repeat it, I'm ready." Taylor said. Didn't look away, nor retreated.
Emma frowned.
"Who do you think you are?"
"Somebody stronger that you, in every way."
Emma shoved, causing her back to hit against the wall. That caught her off guard. Physical violence was Sophia's thing. Probably, she expected her to back down with just that. That she would go back to her place.
Like hell.
"Okay." Taylor muttered. "Have it your way."
She grabbed one of her arms, and twisted it behind her back. Ignoring her protests, and the sounds of pain, she violently slammed her against of the lockers. The impact of her head against the metal was satisfying.
"Never again, Emma. Never again."
"You? You are supposed… you are supposed to..." her breathing was agitated, she sounded almost like an animal.
Emma turned around, and threw herself against her, furious. Being violent, and in such a public, obvious way, was too strange coming from her. Her resistance must have affected her deeply. Even so, it was easy to beat. She let her on the ground, nearly unconscious. She believed herself to be superior to others. When she was pushed against the ropes, she fought back, but she lacked the strength to back up her words. Not like her.
I didn't want to be this way, Taylor though. It was a small voice in the back of her mind, and soon vanished like mist.
She felt her mouth forming a smile.
The teachers, of course, became aware of the incident. They gathered them in the principal's office, save from Emma, which was taken to the office. Sophia, also, as one of the people who had seen what had occurred. Things went like last time. Madison and Julia said that she had attacked Emma. It was a believable story, not even taking into account the usual factors, since Emma had got the worst of it by far. When Blackwell asked Sophia, she nodded distractedly.
"They are lying. And you know it." Taylor said. She was thinking of Shadow Stalker, what she would say, how she would handle herself in this situation. "I understand the problem of the gang presence in the school, that you cannot handle everything, I'm not blind. I'm not asking a lot. Just that when the faculty sees a problem, they don't ignore it."
"You should try to understand my position. Maybe you're in the right, but as long as the only thing I have is your word, my hands are tied."
"You have been notified of a problem. Wouldn't take you a lot of effort, to ask that they pay attention, verify in some way if I'm telling the truth or not. But of course, you don't really care. You have bigger things in mind." she forced a smile, hoping it would be full of the presence Shadow Stalker transmitted. "I will only tell you one thing. You can punish me, expel me. But if she comes for me, is obvious that I would defend myself. And if she doesn't learn, maybe she will be the one to end up in the hospital this time."
"Hebert..." Blackwell protested.
"Your choice."
She expelled her for a few days. The dialog had been stressful, and the expulsion now was insignificant to her, so she didn't really care. She had demonstrated to herself, and probably to Shadow Stalker, that she was a strong person. She could defend herself.
Stalker sent her a message, telling her the hour and the place in which to meet.
She couldn't wait.
Taylor was getting better. The gap between her and Stalker was big and sometimes it made it hard to see, but it was clear. Stalker seemed satisfied with her progress.
"I saw what you did." she said, while they took a break. Though of course she wasn't the one who needed it. "I knew you had what it takes."
"Thanks." If I don't ask her now I never will, she thought. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"What you told me wasn't the whole truth, right?"
"Yeah." Stalker admitted. The silence extended during several minutes, while they just looked at each other. It seemed she was going to leave it like that. It was to be expected. "I killed my stepfather, to protect my family."
"But… you're a hero." the irony of her saying something like that, when not that long ago she had killed a person with her hands, didn't escape her. But it took her by surprise. It didn't fit with the image she had… that had built. That was one of those moments when se realized that her perceptions and the world had more gaps, cracks and undersides that what she thought.
"I didn't ask to be called like that. In the end, hero is just another label that people use to hide their true faces. But yes, mi intentions are good. People are supposed to help other and correct injustice, right? That's why I killed him. He was a person who was better off dead. In this world, there are far too many people like him."
"You're right."
She could understand those feelings, though not wholly. Many times she had wished that Emma, Sophia and Madison would disappear, and if she had power, if she could take the ultimate revenge… she wasn't sure if she could resist.
"I think you're ready." Stalker said. "And you?"
"Yeah."
It was what she wanted the most in the world.
