by S. H. Kolee
“How did you even get started in fencing?” I asked.
“My father fenced during college, and he got me started at a young age.” Amanda gave me a rueful smile. “It was a little hard being different from all the other girls who were trying out for cheerleading and softball, but I loved it the instant I picked up my first foil.”
I tried to memorize her build during our conversation without being too obvious about it. I hoped that she wouldn’t notice and think I was checking her out for another reason. I also tried to learn their practice schedule, but unfortunately she revealed that they didn’t have a set practice time since a lot of the team members had conflicting schedules, so it was constantly changing.
I spoke to Bryce and Justin as well, who seemed as if they were joined at the hip. I had a suspicion that they were more than just friends and teammates, and it was a relief that they wouldn’t take my roving eye in the wrong way as I memorized their build. They were both perfectly nice, but nothing tipped me off to the identity of the person in my vision.
I was aware of Britney leading Ryan around as if they were a couple, but I was even more aware of one of the well-endowed girls, Chrissy was her name, showing Simon more attention than I was comfortable with. I walked up to them and slipped my hand in Simon’s. He turned to me with a smile.
“Hey. How are you doing?”
“Good,” I said as I smiled at Chrissy and leaned into Simon. She seemed to take note of my possessive gesture, something I had never consciously done before in my life, and excused herself under the guise of getting a drink.
“We were just talking,” Simon said looking amused. I shrugged as if I had no idea what he was talking about.
“I know. It didn’t bother me.” I gave him a look that I hoped conveyed that I was equally amused. “You’re allowed to talk to other girls. I’m not the jealous type.”
“Sure,” he said, although I was annoyed that his amusement seemed to deepen.
“Ready to leave?” Ryan seemed to appear out of nowhere since I had lost track of him, being too focused on Simon and Chrissy.
“Yeah, we’re ready.” I lowered my voice so no one would overhear. “There’s nothing left to do except hope I have the vision again so that I’m able to figure out who it is.”
We said our goodbyes and made our way home, bracing against the cold December wind.
“I can’t believe it’ll be Christmas soon,” I said to no one in particular. Although I had never really been a fan of Christmas, it would be even more dismal this year now that I knew I no longer had a father.
Neither Simon nor Ryan commented and we walked the rest of the way home in silence, each of us lost in our thoughts. I had a feeling none of us were thinking warm, cheery thoughts about the upcoming holiday. I would have put money on the probability that we were all thinking about the losses we had experienced, and how we would cope with the incongruity of a festive holiday like Christmas under the circumstances. That is, if we survived to see it.
Chapter Eleven
The figure backed away as the opponent approached with aggression, wielding the saber with deadly accuracy. I forced myself to block out the vardoger, to focus on the victim. Tall and slim, the figure could be any of the three members of the fencing team that were viable candidates.
The vardoger lunged forward with the saber and its opponent scrambled back, realizing that this was no longer a normal fencing match. The vardoger chose that moment to raise its saber high and bring it down with bruising force, and I again witnessed the gruesome sight of the head being severed in one fell swoop.
I swallowed my revulsion as the bloodied head rolled towards my feet. I took a shaky breath as I realized what I had to do. I leaned forward, my arm outstretched, and with a trembling hand I touched the bloodied mask to pull it off.
“Shit!” The expletive exploded out of me as I sat up in bed abruptly. I had been so close to finding out the identity of the victim, only to be back to square one.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked, sounding completely awake. I lay back down with a sigh.
“I was about to pull the mask off in my vision, but I woke up before I could do it.” I rubbed my eyes wearily. “How am I going to kill the vardoger if I don’t even know the identity of the person in my vision?”
Simon pulled me close and we were quiet as dawn approached, although my mind was whirring with ways to figure out who the victim in my vision was. I replayed the vision in my head and tried to at least determine whether the figure was male or female, but it was hard to tell in those unisex uniforms. The only thing I succeeded in doing was making myself frustrated and anxious so I got up to get ready for the day.
It was odd to have a semi-normal Monday morning as Sarah happily got ready for her morning classes and we all sat around the kitchen table drinking coffee. The addition of Ryan, who was clearly not part of our normal life, reminded me that we weren’t simply a group of college students hanging out before the start of the day. I wanted the rest of the group to get back to a life of normalcy, at least as much as possible. Life would, hopefully, go on after all of this was over and I didn’t want anyone jeopardizing their future. Destroying vardogers was my calling, not theirs.
“What are you going to do instead of going to class?” Sarah asked, looking concerned when I mentioned I wasn’t attending my classes today. “I thought you still hadn’t figured out the identity of the person in your vision.”
“I haven’t, but my visions have been pretty accurate about the location of where it happens. I’m almost positive that the vardoger will attack in the auditorium where they practice.”
“So you’re going to hang out at the auditorium all day?” Sarah asked. “You’re going to be bored to death!”
Sarah winced at her choice of words but I just shrugged. “I’ll be fine.” Unfortunately Britney had gotten upset with Ryan when she pushed for another date and he refused. I didn’t want to state the obvious that if he had continued a relationship with her, he could have found out the fencing team’s practice schedule from her, since it fluctuated so often. But despite everything, I thought it was best not to lead the poor girl on.
“I’ll keep her company,” Simon said with a smile and Sarah just blinked at him. I knew she was still having problems coming to terms with Simon being a vardoger. She had told me that she forgot about it most of the time, but was then jarred into reality when she remembered. I knew Simon had been trying to make an effort to be more relaxed around Sarah and Grant, more of the old Simon, but that seemed to make them even more tense. Like they thought he was putting on an act.
“Do you want me to come too?” I appreciated the fact that Ryan asked instead of telling me he was coming with me, but I also wondered if he was trying to point out how domineering Simon could be.
“I think that’s a good idea. I could use the perspective of another seer.”
Simon didn’t seem too happy about my acceptance of Ryan’s offer to come along but I didn’t have the energy to mollify him.
We made an odd threesome as we hung out at the auditorium. Fortunately we weren’t too conspicuous since the auditorium was busy with students using the basketball court during their free time between classes. The morning seemed to stretch out forever as we spent most of the time just sitting there, watching nothing in particular. Simon reluctantly volunteered to get some food for lunch, although I knew he didn’t want to leave Ryan and me alone.
“How are you holding up?” he asked after Simon had left.
“It’s just so frustrating,” I admitted with a sigh. “I’m supposed to be this powerful seer vanquishing vardogers and saving lives, yet I’m spending my day sitting on the bleachers watching students play basketball.”
“The glamorous life of a seer,” Ryan said with a sardonic smile. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Do you ever wish you were just a normal person? That you didn’t know about the existence of vardogers and were able to live your life without
worrying about shadows trying to destroy human souls?” We had touched on the subject before in the library, but the more time I spent with Ryan, the more I wondered about him.
He didn’t answer right away as he stared at the students laughing and enjoying themselves playing basketball. When he finally did answer, his voice was wistful. “Of course. I wonder what it would be like to have a normal life. I imagine a life where I wouldn’t constantly have to look over my shoulder and be on guard all the time. A life where shadows waiting to pounce was just the stuff of nightmares and horror movies.” He glanced at me before turning back to the students. “I wonder what it would be like to meet a girl, fall in love and get married. Have a family.”
“You can still do that,” I said softly, feeling a pang of pity for him. In some sort of twisted way, I was lucky that the person I had fallen in love with was someone of my world; a vardoger whose life would never be ordinary. I couldn’t imagine trying to live a life with someone who was part of the normal world.
Ryan turned to me with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Can I?”
“Of course,” I said jerkily, feeling discomfited by the way he was looking at me. “You just need to find someone who understands you.”
Ryan’s voice was low and raspy when he spoke. “Do you understand me?”
My pulse quickened as his gaze pierced into me. I heard a warning bell go off in my head as he slowly leaned in closer and I jerked back. I turned just in time to see Simon opening the door of the auditorium carrying a brown paper bag. I watched as he walked towards us, his eyes only for me.
“I hope you’re in the mood for burgers and fries,” he said as he set the bag down on the bleachers.
“Sounds perfect,” I said with a smile, although my appetite had vanished. I was just relieved that Simon hadn’t seen anything. I forced myself to unwrap a burger and take a bite, studiously avoiding Ryan’s gaze. I was confused about what had just happened. Was Ryan going to kiss me? Maybe I had just misinterpreted his actions. The most confusing part was that even though I had pulled back, a part of me had wanted to lean in, to feel his lips against mine and find out if there was actually anything between us.
The thought made me guilty and I felt like I was betraying Simon. I didn’t doubt my love for him, but then why was I being tempted by someone else?
I tried to clear my head as the day wore on. The last thing I needed was to be distracted by my confusing emotions when I needed to concentrate on training and getting stronger for the day when I would face my father. I told myself I was being weak and soft by getting pulled in different directions by my emotions and I resolved to be stronger.
“We can’t stay here all night,” Simon said as he checked his watch. Not only had we eaten lunch in the auditorium, we had eaten dinner there as well. “It’s almost ten o’clock.”
“But what if something happens overnight?” I protested. “We don’t know when it’s going to happen.”
“Simon’s right,” Ryan agreed, surprising both Simon and I. “There’s no point in facing the vardoger if you’re weak. I know you want to save the person from your vision, and you will, but this is also to make you stronger. Don’t wear yourself out for the battle so that you end up losing the war.”
I opened my mouth to respond but Ryan continued to speak. “Plus, you might have the vision again tonight while you sleep that’ll clue you in to the identity.” He looked around the auditorium dismissively. “I doubt you’ll get a good night’s sleep here.”
I sighed, unable to refute the logic of his words, although a part of me desperately wanted to stay. I was afraid of missing the attack, but Ryan was right and I agreed to go home.
“You must be exhausted,” Sarah said sympathetically when we got home. I had kept in touch with her throughout the day through text messages, but I was still relieved to see her safe and sound on the living room couch along with Grant.
“We didn’t really do much besides watch students play basketball.” I rubbed my bottom ruefully. “Next time I think I’m going to take some cushions. Those bleachers are hard.”
“Joel called me tonight,” Grant said to Simon. “Marcus already told him that we were playing at the East End on Saturday and he was calling me to confirm it. I told him we would since we already told Marcus that it was okay.”
Simon nodded although he didn’t look enthused by the prospect. “It’s probably best to get some things back to normal.”
“Good. Marcus wanted to know if we can practice tomorrow afternoon.” Grant’s tone wasn’t overly enthusiastic. He still watched Simon with a calculated eye, as if he expected him to attack at any moment.
Simon turned to me before responding to Grant. “I assume you’re planning on spending all day at the auditorium again tomorrow.”
“Yes, unless I have a vision tonight where I find out more.”
Simon turned back to Grant. “Sorry, not tomorrow.”
Grant seemed to accept Simon’s response but I spoke up. “Simon, you can go practice with the band tomorrow. You said it was best to get things back to normal. You practicing with Grant and Marcus is normal.”
Simon lifted a challenging brow. “I was talking about other people, not me. I’ll always be far from normal.”
I sighed but didn’t argue any further. I knew Simon had a similar feeling as I did in that he wanted the others to go back to living their lives normally. The fact that we couldn’t made the desire for the people we cared about to do so even stronger. He would never be normal and neither would I. It was an odd thought to be comforting, but it was. I never had to worry about being alone.
I reminded myself that it probably wasn’t a good idea to be alone with Ryan, so it was another reason not to argue with Simon. After what had happened today at the auditorium, whether it was real or imagined, I had to be more on guard around him, especially when it came to my emotions. That would be easier with Simon around.
It was a relief to fall into bed, but I was frustrated the next morning when I woke up vision-free. Ryan, Simon and I trudged back to the auditorium to spend another day there and I prayed that today wouldn’t be another fruitless endeavor.
We were rewarded when the fencing team strolled in at around eleven in the morning. Britney scowled when she saw us but Amanda smiled and walked over.
“Hi guys.”
“Hi,” I greeted with a smile. “It’s good to see you again.” I felt the need to explain why we were here even though she hadn’t asked. “We’re taking a break between classes. I didn’t realize the fencing team was practicing today.”
“We have a big match tomorrow,” Amanda said. “I always stress out way too much about it. I end up coming to practice on my own at night to make sure I’m as prepared as possible for the next day’s match.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” I said sincerely.
I waited until Amanda had walked away to speak. “So I guess we have to stay tonight until she comes back to practice on her own. That would be the perfect time for her vardoger to strike.”
“Yeah, if she’s the one from your vision,” Ryan said.
“Maybe she is and maybe she isn’t. All I know is I’m not taking any chances.”
We watched the fencing team practice and I was impressed by how quickly they moved. I zeroed in on Amanda as she fenced and started to believe that she was the one from my vision. Her build fit the figure but I knew better than to dismiss the possibility that it could be Justin or Bryce. Both could easily be the person in my vision as well.
There wasn’t much to do after the fencing team left except wait. Ryan and Simon played a round of one-on-one basketball to release some energy and I cringed while I watched them. They weren’t treating this as an easy game of pick-up basketball. You would have thought it was a championship game with the way they were competing so fiercely. I winced when Simon body checked Ryan hard, but instead of calling foul Ryan returned the favor during the next point.
I was relieved when they
were done and neither had sustained any injuries. The waiting game continued and I sat up straight when Amanda walked into the auditorium. She seemed surprised to see us again and walked over.
“Have you been here all day?” she asked, looking at us a little oddly. I didn’t blame her but we had already planned out the story we would tell.
I laughed as if I found her question hilarious. “Of course not! We’re waiting for a few friends to play some basketball. What a coincidence to see you again.”
Amanda seemed to accept my answer but she looked at me a little strangely again. I smiled widely, trying not to look as foolish as I felt. We watched as she spent the next hour practicing and I was on pins and needles, waiting for her shadow to step out at any moment.
Unfortunately it never happened and I was crestfallen when Amanda waved from a distance after she was done practicing and left.
“Dammit!” I said fiercely. “I was sure it was going to happen tonight.”
“We might as well leave,” Simon said. “It’s past eight o’clock and I doubt any other members of the fencing team are going to come to the auditorium tonight to practice.”
“Let’s just stay for a few more hours,” I insisted. “Just to make sure.”
Simon sighed but he agreed. I finally conceded defeat at ten-thirty and we left to go home. When I closed my eyes that night, I prayed that I would have a vision and see something that would clue me in as to who was in danger.
Chapter Twelve
Blood spurted out of the neck as the severed head rolled towards me. I wasted no time in bending over to reach for the head. I shuddered as my hands became covered in blood as I struggled to pull off the mask but I refused to let my revulsion deter me. I finally succeeded in removing the mask and stared at the face looking back at me.
I immediately pushed against my slumber, struggling to wake up so that I could take action.
“It’s Britney!” I gasped as I woke up. I scrambled out of bed and quickly started changing.
