Page 82 of In Between Darkness
Adrenaline dulls the pain as I approach him again. We are circling each other in the office, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Be smart about this, Asha. If he gets ahold of you, he will not stop.
‘Think with your head, not your fists.’ My father’s words affirm in my mind again. I mirror his feet to try to predict what his next attack is going to be. He lunges again with all his force, his face more furious than I have ever seen. I think he does a memorised move because he pulls it off so well; one quick jab with his left fist, one with his right and then a much harder jab from his left again. I manage to avoid the first, but the second two connect with my stomach and my jaw, making my head swing round and my body fall to the floor. I taste iron in my mouth and wince as I touch my bloodied lip. The mixture of adrenaline and anger is like morphine. I will not let the pain get to me. Using the back of my hand, I wipe the excess blood from the corner of my mouth. Alex is leisurely taking his time walking over to me, his footsteps heavy and fierce. I turn onto my back to face him as he towers over me.
“Turns out little Asha is not as big and bad as she thinks,” he taunts as he grabs me by my ankle and pulls me into the centre of the room. I kick out at him, but he is too strong. He lets go and entices me onto my feet again.
“Come on, it’s not gonna be over that easily.”
I shakily rise to my feet and assume a fighter stance again. My jaw throbs from his last hit. I definitely underestimated Alex. Part of me just wants to suck him up into Astra Nova and lock him away forever, but I stop myself. I can do this. I hold my stomach with my head bowed, checking for any significant injuries. When I realise there are no broken bones, I charge at him as fast as my feet will carry me. He changes his stance to welcome me, probably expecting me to throw a punch, but I don’t. I spook him with a phantom jab from my right fist, making him dodge to the left. Exactly as I predicted he would. I turn my run into a slide and kick his right ankle during his move, resulting in him collapsing to the floor. He hits the floor with a bang, and a groan escapes his mouth. Before he can register hisfall, I jump on top of him, fuelled by anger and resentment, and throw punch after punch in his direction.
A few punches stick and snap his head into the concrete, but he is stronger than me and gets a hold of my wrists, throwing me off and forcing me to slide on the hard floor. My back and head hit the cold wall with force. I grunt at the pressure of his push as the pain vibrates down my neck and spine. My vision blurs slightly from the blunt force trauma to the back of my head. My body feels weak, and I can’t see this ending well.
Alex rises and walks over to me. In my state, I see three of him. I try to make out which is the real him, but I fear it’s impossible. His movements make me feel sick, and saliva wells in my mouth. I hear him laughing at me, tormenting me. His voice rings like needles in my ears.
“You put up a good fight, Calloway, I must say.”
He towers over me, but I am too weak to respond. Now is the part where I would use my portal, but I don’t feel strong enough to wield it.
“Shame it will be your last.” With a snide grin, he launches a kick to my chest. My torso curls into his attack, and I hear my bones crunch on impact. I cough and splutter as the wind is knocked out of me. The adrenaline is gone now; all I feel is pain. My body aches with defeat, and the iron taste in my mouth is overpowering. With the last remaining energy I have, I work at crawling away from him, but he just follows me and intimidates me with his presence. I cannot beat him. I am slowly losing consciousness. I lay cowardly in a fetal position, trying to shield my body from any more of his fierce attacks. He crouches down beside me and runs his finger around the side of my face.
“You are so beautiful, you know, shame about your personality.”
His boot connects with my stomach, and I cry out in agony.
I manage to mumble a small “fuck you” as I make out through the blur, a bright orange ball of light cradled in his hand.
“A-Alex we said no Gifts,” I stutter, the pain in my head drowning out my own voice.
“No,yousaid no Gifts.”
The glow increases, and I bury my head in my hands.
“You’ve won, so you can leave this now,” I plead with him, but the fury in his eyes is still present.
“You burnt me alive, Asha, now you’re going to suffer just how I suffered… Only no one will find you down here.”
I try to conjure my Gifts, any one of them…but in my weakened state, nothing is working. This is it. Defeated by Alex Rotherman.
Chapter Thirty-Two
My body tenses as I brace for impact, waiting for the fiery ball to tear through my skin, scorching me from the inside out. But it doesn’t come. I hear a struggle and reluctantly open one eye. I’m confused. Alex is no longer above me. I hear grunts and groans, but the world is still blurry and sideways. I work at sitting up and place my hand on top of my head to stabilise myself. My vision is becoming clearer. I see Alex on the floor and… Ryder.
Ryder is standing above him with his shadow hawks surrounding Alex. I see worry in his eyes as he looks over at me. Alex is conjuring orbs to shoot at the hawks, but they don’t make contact; they just dissipate and reappear. Ryder looks angry; his face is a new shade of red I haven’t seen before. If this were a cartoon, I’m almost certain he would have steam coming from his ears. His knuckles are white as he pulls Alex up by his white t-shirt and summons him to his feet.
“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, huh?” he says to him, hawks still at his beck and call.
“You don’t understand… She’s trash, a freak of nature. I haven’t figured it out yet, but there’s something wrong with her,” Alex spits. “I’d be doing the world a favour.”
“Oh, you’ve got a problem with freaks, have you?” Ryder says through gritted teeth. He pulls his black hoodie over his head and chucks it off to the side, revealing the serpent venom running through his arm. He raises his eyebrow, and Alex’s eyes enlarge.
“N-no,” Alex stutters and takes a few steps away from Ryder.
“You just said you had a problem with freaks. Well, I’m a freak. You gonna teach me a lesson?”
He walks in closer to Alex like he’s prey. “Come on. Don’t get all shy now.”
Alex stands up for himself. “You’ve seen what damage I can do.” He gestures to my bruised, burned and weakened frame, and my heart sinks a little deeper. Ryder laughs menacingly at his feeble attempt to scare him.
“I’m afraid your Gifts won’t be any use to you now… It’s nightfall.”
