by Nicol, Andy
“Over my dead body!” I shouted, not giving Jekyll a chance to finish talking. Soul gasped and shouted in pain as Jekyll continued to punish him.
“That can be arranged!”
I let the blood pool in my mouth as it dripped from my cheek and nose for just this moment. I spat at Jekyll, spraying blood across his face. All it seemed to do was make him cringe and curse at me very loudly. Both men let us go for a few short seconds, letting my pain fester into agony, then into anger. Soul attempted to grab my hand and pull me away before I could rush forward and take someone’s head off, only he was too late and Hyde did the same, spinning me around and attempting to jab a concealed knife into my side. I barely managed to sidestep the blow, knocking the knife away with my elbow. A hand — belonging to Greg, I assumed — shot out from under the table and snatched the knife away.
“God damn, no good —” My temper flared.
“Shut it! Before my brother does it for you…” Jekyll hissed, pulling his own knife. Soul clenched his fists, and his face burned red as he glanced from me back to the twins.
“N-not now … please…”
They shared a look, then broke out in raucous laughter. All emotion other than blind rage fell away a second later as Jekyll shoved Soul back against the wall and pressed a knife into his cheek, directly over the already existing scar.
“I swear to god I’ll kill you both!” I said, my voice dripping with venom. I swung my elbow back, narrowly missing. I felt Hyde readjust his grip on my arm as he chuckled softly.
He pressed his nose into my hair and sighed. “I bet you will.”
I grunted and struggled more, only to be stopped and frozen in place by the sound of Soul’s small whimper. I dropped my arms to my sides and looked over at my friend. He wasn’t bleeding and he looked more frustrated than nervous, but he definitely wanted me to stop fighting. I must commend him for his composure, that’s for sure.
Jekyll slowly sunk down to his height, taunting him. “She wants to kill us for what we did to her boyfriend. You want to kill us for what we did to you … but have you thought about why we want to kill you?”
He trailed the knife down Soul’s cheek again, barely earning a flinch.
Soul looked confused, even curious.
“Okay fine, I’ll tell you. Your little pet K9 tricked us. She made us look like fools so we destroyed her mind and body —”
“And now we’re going to destroy her Soul, too!” Hyde let out a hoot of laughter as his brother and I (and probably anyone else watching) rolled our eyes, exasperated. How long has he been holding that one in…?
Nevertheless, he was right. They went after Henry and I because we made them look stupid. They were our first opponents in a real fight, but they weren’t the same people back then. We pulled a dumb trick on them, and we won at the cost of the twins’ dignity. They never forgave us. People laughed for weeks.
We pretended it was a three-team battle, that even though the other team was running late, we had to just go ahead and start. They fell for it, and when they got me on the ground, Henry started shouting that the other team had arrived. When the twins turned to look, we jumped them and choked them out. They disappeared from the circuit for a few years and when they came back — absolutely ripped — we were their first targets.
“We thought we got our revenge, you know. We killed that boy and broke her brother. I thought that was enough, but here she is, still mocking us and running around like she’s the top dog!” Jekyll started to wave his knife towards me, then angrily turned back at Soul. “I thought we could work together. I never had anything against you. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time … with the wrong person.”
“Do you have a point? Some of us kind of have better things to be doing.” I scowled, attempting once more to pull my arm from Hyde’s grip.
“The point is” — Jekyll growled, pointing his knife at me — “that we’re coming for you and you will die. Either in the competition or not. It’s up to you. But you will die slowly and painfully. Which one do you think would hurt more from watching the other die, Hyde?”
I’d been around death, I could handle it. Almost every warrior from Lilithia Heights has killed someone, but I can’t lose someone to Jekyll and Hyde, not again. I couldn’t even feel Hyde’s cold, calloused hands anymore. I was practically shaking with anger, frozen in place. Soul’s composure had started to crumble too. He glanced between me and the twins, a hint of fear shining in his eyes. He reached up for Jekyll’s wrist, pulling the knife away slightly.
“Don’t touch my K9.”
“Aw, is the doggy afraid to play war?” Jekyll sneered.
Soul wasn’t taking any of this from him and leaned closer, fear replaced with contempt. “Are the gemini afraid to let her?”
Hyde shoved his brother out of the way and tried to intimidate my Crow. He puffed his chest out to look bigger, but Soul only shook his head.
“Listen, bird —”
“Hyde. Crows are just dirty, careless birds. Not worth our time.”
I had to bite my tongue and clench my fist, otherwise there would have been bigger trouble.
Soul, on the other hand, startled me with one last comment and a merciless growl. “Murderers too. Don’t forget that.” The look on his face was demonic, carrying more anger and hatred than I had ever seen before.
They were taken aback by this, but just for a second. Collecting themselves again, they went back to taunting us.
“Hey, Jekyll? Want to play with the puppy?”
“Why not, Hyde?” I was thrown off guard momentarily, as they simultaneously turned to me and jumped forward.
“Don’t.”
They paused at Soul’s instruction and shared a humour-filled grin.
“What’s going to happen if we do?” Hyde asked, tauntingly holding up his knife.
“The bird’s going to peck our eyes out?” Jekyll added.
I watched the raven-haired man contemplate the words, rolling his eyes back and shaking his head.
“Possible.”
I hid a dark smirk as they started to chuckle more and that wicked grin took over Soul’s face.
“You’ll die, but what to do with your eyes…?”
I watched the jokers suddenly start to look a bit uneasy as Soul’s chest rumbled with chuckles. Pride tugged at me. They stopped laughing at this point and shared a nervous look as Soul stepped away from the wall and tilted his head, keeping his shoulders hunched and cracking his knuckles. There was barely a trace of my gentle Crow in this man; he just looked unstable and … scary.
I liked it a little bit too much. It wasn’t him, and that worried me.
“The gemini will burn. Whether it be by K9, Crow, or neither. The gemini will die, leaving ash and ember where they once stood tall. They. Will. Burn.”
Soul gave Jekyll a small shove. Jekyll stumbled back but stepped back up to Soul, taking his button-up in his grasp.
“Jekyll, don’t,” Hyde muttered as he tossed me back against the table. His eyes were focused on something just over my shoulder. “Now’s not the time. We’re done here.”
Soul stepped forward as Jekyll released him. He rushed forward and got one good shot to Hyde’s nose. There was a solid crack as Hyde fell back against his brother.
“Don’t … touch her!” Soul growled after them.
Jekyll hauled his brother up and quickly pulled him toward the door, passing two familiar figures on their way out. Louis and the boss had just walked in. They were coming toward us, fast. That explained brothers’ sudden departure.
You see, if contestants attack each other outside of training before the tournament begins, they get disqualified. If they get caught. Now I no longer trusted Mr. Viktor for obvious reasons, so his concern was pretty … concerning.
“What on earth happened here?” Viktor said hotly.
Ignoring him, I gritted my teeth and pulled out some cash for our drinks; then I stood and tossed it on the table. I made my exit
by keeping my eyes fixed on the door and flipping off the twins.
“Benjamina, what on earth…?” Viktor asked.
I pushed past our boss and the medic and into the cool night air. Soul was, luckily, right behind me and caught me as I started to stumble.
“I-I should have ordered another drink…” I muttered with a grin.
Soul wrapped his arm around my back and helped me make sure I wouldn’t end up in a ditch. It’s not exactly the ideal place to be when you wake up after a night out, trust me. My world was spinning, the blood still flowing from the cut on my forehead as I leaned into my friend. “Carrying me home from a bar … That’s usually Chrissy’s job.”
Soul wasn’t going to have any of my jokes tonight. I kept forgetting I didn’t need to fake my way with him. I couldn’t even if I tried; he wouldn’t tolerate it.
With a sigh, I touched his arm. “Are you okay?”
“Dead … die, the demons will die. Burn, little monsters, burn in hell for what you’ve done. If hell is too far then Apollo shall come to you, crow-black feathers left in his wake…”
I sighed again and continued to walk. I felt the same as I always did whenever I drank too much, only this time coffee wouldn’t fix the pounding in my brain. The walkway of the temporary base came into view, and Soul sighed out of relief.
“Sorry to be a burden.”
He ignored my sarcasm and rolled his eyes as he kicked the door open with his right boot.
I was getting a little lightheaded, and I started to find playing with his hair very amusing. I giggled like a child as he picked me up off the ground and carried me bridal-style into the lounge-kitchen. I started to braid a piece of his bangs, and he grunted at me as he continuously pulled his head away.
“Come onnnn. I have to make it look pretty at some point anyway!”
“Not now.”
I giggled again as he set me onto the arm of a leather loveseat. Slowly, I fell onto my back on the seat, kicking my legs back and forth as I listened to his boots stomp on the old wooden floorboards. I absentmindedly looked around the room, blood still staining my nose and lips. I put my arms above my head and puffed my cheeks out like a chipmunk.
There were about five people in the room, three of which left nervously once they saw me and my cohort. That was a funny word — “cohort.” I didn’t really know what it meant, but I laughed a little anyway.
“What in heaven’s name happened to you?” a man who was reading a book asked. He looked utterly appalled. “Appalled” … that was another one I wasn’t really familiar with. It made me sound smart though.
I snapped back to my senses and sat up quickly, getting dizzy again from moving too fast. The tap was running in the kitchen as I carefully touched my right eyebrow, feeling a slight sting.
“It’s a long story.” I shook my head a little bit and received a flick to the arm from Soul.
“Hold still…” he instructed, with a tad bit more sympathy than before.
I pouted as I reached up and tugged his beard, bringing him down to my height. “Do not treat me like a child.”
Scowling, he dragged a wet rag over my cheek. He cleaned up a little bit of blood and then examined my face, stopping at my lips. “Don’t act like one … and … d-don’t get hurt.”
I smiled up at my handsome Crow. “For my Crow?”
A gigantic grin took over his face. “Who else?”
His green eyes looked from my hazel ones to my cheeks to my lips, then back to my eyes. He seemed to falter for a second; then he grinned wider and planted a soft kiss on my nose. I hopped back and smiled despite the small throb of pain it caused.
“Watch it, would you?” I giggled and gave him a half-hearted shove. He put a hand on the left side of my face — the non-bruised, non-bloody side of my face — and continued to wash off the blood.
“Jekyll didn’t hurt your arm too badly, did he?” I asked.
Soul shook his head and stretched his arm out as he silently worked. The man with the book was still staring, and the girl that was with him grinned.
“Oh my god! You’re them! You’re Crow and K9!”
“Good guess, captain obvious,” the man responded.
The man sighed as he surrendered his book and turned towards us. “Again, I ask, what happened to you two?”
I was about to answer him when I heard a door slam open and several voices talking over each other.
“We’ll slaughter them! Those two have no right to be taking our spot in the tournament and have the gall to think they can win too!”
“We can’t kill them here, Hyde! Too many eyes on us. We’ll wait until the tournament begins. Then I’ll slit the dumb girl’s throat like we should have when we met.”
I bit my lip angrily and slid my knife out of my belt. Then I leapt, half stumbling, over the back of the seat and toward them. The men walked into the room, and I shoved Jekyll into the wall as hard as I could, pressing my blade into his neck.
“This dumb girl just might slit yours first,” I spat at him. “Because of you two, I’m pretty good with sharp objects.”
“Ms. Keanin!” Another voice from behind. Mr. Viktor.
Arms wrapped around my middle and pulled me away from my prey. Soul was still pretty angry, but at this point, he had more self-control than I did. I fought him a little bit, but he grabbed my wrist and pinned my arm back, then took the knife and let me go.
“Someone isn’t happy,” a man muttered as he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He looked like Viktor’s PA, but I’d never seen him in person before. He looked bored under his frizzy black hair.
“What on earth just happened?” Mr. Viktor asked cautiously.
“They tried to kill us! Again!” I shot back.
Viktor chuckled and shook his head.
“You must be mistaken; they are aware that they can’t attack anyone unless they agree to train in the arena.”
I was shocked and hurt that he really didn’t care if we were killed by these two.
I turned my back, mouthed a few choice words, and then turned again and looked at Hyde. “How’s your nose feeling? I’ve taken a few blows to the face myself. Stings doesn’t it?”
Hyde lurched forward, and I cringed as I hopped away.
“You two best stay away from here,” Mr. Viktor instructed the two brutes as he led them out, along with the other man I wasn’t familiar with.
As they left, I started cursing up a storm and waving my fist in the air. Soul had crossed his arms and walked out of the room, leaving me to trip over the side of the couch and hit the floor.
“You know what? This is good. Just leave me here, I’m good.”
Eventually, I grabbed the arm of the couch and hauled myself up.
“You two are going to get hurt if you keep instigating.” Louis smirked. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He must have slipped in behind Viktor during the shouting.
“They are going to kill us anyway! Why not let them do it sooner rather than later?” I clutched my head and scowled at the floor. He calmly walked over, pulled his penlight from his pocket, and shone it into my eyes, roughly grabbing my chin to hold me still.
He chuckled darkly and shook his head.
“You have a concussion —”
“Thanks, Mr. Doctor! I could have told you that!” I shoved him away from me and stood again, starting to pace back and forth in front of a large stone fireplace. I thought about how we could defeat them until I realized that they weren’t even supposed to be here. They lost our qualifying tournament; they should be at home sulking.
“It’s a set-up! Who … who authorized this, and why were they talking like they’re part of the tournament?”
I had to sit back down. The room had started to spin again.
“Forget about them; just focus on your training,” Louis instructed. “We actually have decent warriors this year. We have a chance. Don’t blow it.”
“‘We have a chance, don’t blow it,’” I mocke
d, gripping the side of the couch to stay upright. “Louis, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Twenty-Three
I caught Soul rolling his eyes as we talked to Ignatius, the man with the book, and Agatha, the girl who sat beside him. They were cousins from Grizelda village, but they acted more like siblings. They seemed nice enough. Almost everyone else who would pass through the room would avoid eye contact and move quickly. Despite witnessing the incident at the bar, Greg didn’t seem to be afraid to be seen with us. He contently plopped himself onto the couch beside Ignatius, who seemed more than a little bit disgruntled.
“Don’t mind Iggy. He’s always a little bit cranky,” Agatha — or Aggy, which she preferred — told him. She was leaning over a pillow and making conversation with Greg, who seemed very pleased that she was taking an interest in him.
Iggy scowled and held his book to his chest, not at all happy to have his reading time interrupted by us. He had dark, almost black, hair and bright blue eyes. His cousin had red hair and freckles underneath her round glasses. She was shifting her gaze between the members of the small group, finally resting it on Soul, who, for the most part, had been ignoring the conversation as he toyed with a puzzle box.
“What’s his deal?” she asked me quietly.
Soul looked up at that moment, causing Aggy to look away and try to be inconspicuous.
“What do you mean?” I replied with a small laugh.
She shrugged. “The entire time you’ve been here, he hasn’t said anything. He doesn’t look too happy either.”
“I’m not.” Soul muttered as he went back to his puzzle.
“You never are, oh bird of mine.” I turned back to Aggy and rolled my eyes.
Out of my peripheral vision, I could see him silently mocking me as he pressed buttons and slid panels.
Aggy giggled and then grabbed the remote. “Let’s see what those reporters are saying about the others.”
All of the other warriors that had arrived had already made alliances by now, and they were all staying very far away from Soul and me.
“Don’t worry, we’re going to help. I’m sure they’re all misunderstanding the scenario anyway,” Ignatius stated with an unimpressed look, which I doubted ever left his face.
