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Always be moving. If you keep jumping, there's less of a chance that they'll get a good opportunity to electrocute you.
I let Griffin's words coach me as I turned to face the Paladin giving me a grim look. I could see dimly in the moonlight that he was clutching something in one hand. I gritted my teeth together- was I really ready for this? I had some training but I had barely beaten Griffin more than once. How would I handle him?
I didn't have time to worry before I saw the man raise his arm. That was my cue to jump.
The spiral of electricity missed me by inches. I watched in satisfaction as the man whirled around to face me behind him. My heart was racing, but I could do this. Don't let the furious thumping and the mind whirling show.
Keep a poker face. They hate when you fight back, and they hate it even more when you're better than them.
"Nice try," I said with a shrug, grinning as I hit the back of his head.
He cursed and made to move again, missing me yet again as I jumped a few graves away.
I watched his dark eyes narrow in frustration and wondered why he was here alone. Griffin warned me that normally there were at least two Paladins. I guess he was working the graveyard shift. Quite literally.
He seemed to have greater energy as he lashed out again, and I jumped again, hearing the crash of stone behind me as the electricity hit a grave.
I was furious. Whoever would come to visit their poor relative would find a pile of rubble. Desecrating a memorial of a persons life? That wasn't something I wanted to do.
I egged the Paladin on my skipping jumps and finally reaching the end of graves so he wouldn't hit another.
"You've gotta be faster than that," I said with a grin as he charged forward.
His gray suit was rumpled as he tried to hit me again, and I let out a gasp as he missed, but skimmed my shoulder with a punch.
If you let them hit you once, it's hard to recover. It gives them too much time and your jumping time is delayed.
I hissed at the contact of our limbs and wheeled back to hit him myself. I didn't have anything with me like Griffin and I had planned, so I had to make do with my fists.
The Paladin easily blocked my hits. I wondered if my Aunt Eileen put up a fight, or if she was easy to kill. The mere thought sent a shiver through me, a new found fury pulsing through every vein.
Our movements became so fast that I barely had time to think before I had to defend myself. I started to sweat and breathe heavily as I rammed into the Paladin; maybe if I knocked him off his feet, I could take away his weapon.
It didn't work. I slammed my body against his, the pain flickering in every place that contacted. He staggered but didn't fall, and I felt the effects just like he did.
We both took a few seconds to recover before he sent a pulse at me, and this time, I wasn't so lucky as to miss it.
Electricity flooded my body. I felt my senses fizzle as I fell to my knees and tried not to writhe. He could do it; he could get me right now. I wished more than ever that I hadn't come here. I wished that I stayed at that stupid bar no matter how Griffin was acting.
I heard his footsteps coming at me and used any sort of gathered recollection of my strength that I could to hit his legs.
He staggered again and didn't get a chance to hit me again as I struggled to my feet, my movements jerky and forced, but at least happening.
I saw that his eye was bloody from the fight and he was exhausted, but I didn't take any chance on lingering on anything else.
I didn't care that I hadn't beaten him, I was just lucky that he was too slow to beat me.
I jumped as far away as I could.
Don't think of it as a failure, think of it as practice.
I tried to keep telling myself that, but the lingering feeling of not being successful was still hanging around me. The minute I had gotten away, I jumped a few more times for good measure, knowing that he couldn't follow me, but heeding Griffin's advice to throw him off the trail.
I ended up in New York. Go figure.
I tried to always go different places, so I ended up at a hotel. I knew there were suites on the 32nd floor that were rarely occupied, so I jumped there first. We had stayed there on my parent's 15th anniversary, before my dad died and my mom sort of lost touch with the world.
I tried not to think of that as I let the shower scorch my skin. I didn't care that it was turning red, it felt good to wash away the fight and the dirt and the night altogether.
Funny how good intentions always turn into disaster.
I wrapped a towel around myself and realized that I didn't bring any clothes with me, but there were no way I was putting back on the dirty ones from last time. I looked at a clock in the kitchen and realized that the fight had only lasted a few minutes, and it was still relatively early. Only eleven o'clock at night.
Griffin wouldn't be back for a while, not at the rate he was going. So I could just jump over there and steal some clothes. He probably wouldn't even notice, so what was the harm?
I smiled as I thought of myself wearing his stupid leather jacket, and jumped.
It was dark. I found a flickering light and put it on, but it didn't really do the job. There was another light somewhere, but I didn't feel like looking for it. This would have to do.
I made my way towards where I expected Griffin to keep his clothes. He never exactly gave me a grand tour, but it's not like he lived in a mansion.
I was taking a few steps forward when I heard a crash behind me and spun around with wide eyes, clutching my towel protectively around me.
"Who's there?" I shot, looking around in the pale glow.
"Better question, who's house is this?"
Dammit. This was a very bad idea.
"Sorry, I'm just gonna leave," I said, locating the outline of Griffin as he stepped closer to me.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Apparently, drunk Griffin wasn't friendly either. Damn.
"I was just looking for something," I offered, seeing Griffin's eyes finally meet mine and drift downward.
Thank you, dim lighting, for hiding my ever glowing red cheeks. I will never doubt the dark again.
"So you were so eager you didn't dress first? Or you were so comfortable you didn't feel the need to? Either way, I'm flattered, Barbie, but I just don't feel that way about you," he said with a smirk.
"I didn't have any clothes," I said exasperatedly, knowing I wouldn't live this down. "Get over yourself."
"Are you sure you don't mean under-"
"Okay, I'm not doing this!" I yelled, eyes wide.
Apparently, drunk Griffin liked insinuations.
I heard him chuckle- the closest thing to a laugh you would get from him.
I rolled my eyes and was about to jump when he began to stumble towards me.
"One sec," he said, disappearing behind me.
I tried not to think about what he was doing as he ran into something, or rummaged on purpose, it was hard to tell.
I realized that I was sort of cold and my hair probably looked like a damp rats nest, but waited like Griffin said for some reason I couldn't quite place.
In a minute or two, Griffin returned and wordlessly shoved a pile of clothes into my hands before collapsing on the couch.
I jumped before saying anything, even thank you. Because in situations like this, awkwardness totally ruled out manners.
I don't know what the hell was going on with me and this tortured kid, but it was getting weirder by the day.
