Chapter 27 : Kris

She wrestled her opponent on the ground but as per usual she was unsure of how to wrestle her into submission. Lucky for her Hope had demonstrated some tactics for her earlier that evening, despite her shattered hand. Hope's background in Jiu Jujitsu had been rather helpful, and Sabrina hadn't realised it until she found herself with her back on the ground. The injured side of her chest felt as if it was burning and she was almost sure it was bleeding again. Yet to do what Hope had showed her she first had to get the girl that was pushing her on the ground off her.

Good thing was that her opponent was definitely a wrestler kind of fighter. Focusing completely on pinning her on the floor with a complex grip she forgot that in this tournament Sabrina was allowed not only to grapple but strike as well and this made her neglect pinning both of her opponent's arms. It was too late for her to realise, as the angel quickly brought up her forearm and caught her on the neck, hard enough to stop her breathing but not hard enough to crush her larynx and risk killing her.

Torri ''Tornado'' Lester quickly rolled on her side next to Sabrina, who didn't waste her advantage, moving past her guard and half straddling her, whilst still keeping most of her weight balanced on the tips of her feet and her knees. A fist connected with her face but her stance was very balanced and she kept herself from moving, other than gasping. She simply dodged the second punch and leaned forward. This was were Hope's training kicked in. Sabrina supported her left elbow on the ground slightly in the left of Torri's face, while completely leaning over the other woman. Her left hand closed around Torri's left wrist and pinned it to the ground. Sabrina's right arm snaked underneath Torri's pinned left and she grabbed her own wrist, gaining leverage. She held the lock firmly and pulled downwards, achieving a ''Key lock'' submission hold. The strain it put on Torri's shoulder joint's was enough to win her an immediate tap out submission.

Sabrina stumbled to her feet and sighed. Well, her part was over. She got a glimpse of a very angry Torri getting up and coming her way but they were both on their feet and it was to Sabrina's advantage. When Lester made the move to throw another punch at her, she was more than ready to grab the punching arm and step inside Lester's guard, adding more momentum to the existent one. She used her right hip to lift and throw her opponent spectacularly on the ground after a complete back flip in the air. She placed her foot on her chest, preventing her from getting up once more.

'''Please don't make me hit you.'' She said quietly, as the cheers from the crowd had died down. ''Cool off.'' She removed her foot and stepped back, walking to the dressing room. Kelly was already there and she tossed her a towel.

''Good moves champ.'' She teased. Sabrina pushed her away by softly placing a hand on her shoulder and grabbed a towel from the backpack she had left there earlier.

''Hey, what's the matter?''

''Just tired Kell.'' She took off for the school, leaving Kelly behind to find Kris in the crowd.

About an hour later they met in Sabrina's room. As tradition was in the area, the tournament's final and semi finals would be held in the same night, the night to come. As Kris noted the purplish bruise forming on Sabrina's jaw a pang of fear started nagging her. Had she really volunteered to take Sabrina's face? Why did she do that?!

She was going to meet with the cult girls that night to try and gain more information about who the Aryan was and if she had any ties at all with the group or they were in the wrong track. In Kris' mind it was the Aryan that was responsible for the killings and branding that had been going on around the school grounds but she wasn't sure how to prove it, since she hadn't seen the woman since the fight that broke Hope's hand. Sabrina was right, their only chance of actually seeing her was in the final of the tournament because after every match she won she seemed to disapear into thin air.
When the final was over she -given she was in the final- would follow the Aryan into the dressing room and confront her.

All that in theory, of course.

Even if she made it to the final match what was she supposed to do? The final wasn't just a tap-out match, it was a knockout one and Kris had seen exactly how notorious the Aryan was. Was she really going to allow herself get locked in the match cage until one of them was down and not moving?

Well, guess who that would be.

She suddenly felt intimidated but resumed her focus on the other two angels that were currently bickering about how to reapply Sabrina's bandages.

Kris quickly averted her gaze, feeling guilt accompany her fear now. That morning after breakfast her and Sabrina had a long talk about the cult ritual. It had been a relief to find that there were no hard feelings between them and it had been a shock to learn how long Sabrina had been fighting an addiction none of them had noticed. Kris felt in her heart that despite the strong emotions involved in this mess they were slowly finding a way to move through it. She still felt sad that Sabrina hadn't been able to trust her right away and she was even sadder because she knew that if Sabrina had confided in her she would have reacted badly to the news. She felt disappointed with herself, more or less.

She wondered where would their friendship go when all this was over and what about Charlie? Why hadn't he done anything, looked after his angels? A small muscle twitched under her eye. Sure, there was all this cute thing about ''angels'' and the mysterious ''boss'' but he still was their employer and not the father figure they sometimes tended to see in him.

She crossed her arms over her chest and decided to fight, not only in and for the tournament but fight for what they had. Fight for the trust they need to re-establish and the feelings they need to reveal and share. This time, she thought, I'm going to make myself worthy of trust. I'm going to make sure I have your back and I'm going to make sure I don't let you down or put you in any danger.

It really was more than proving herself to her two co-workers and friends. It was about proving herself to... herself.