Super•Villainous

XV

My thoughts flooded past in such a rush that my body struggled to keep up. I stumbled away from Shade, and kept on going, pushing myself off trees to propel myself further and further away whenever my blind flight led me to collide into them or stumble over their snaking, overgrown roots.

Another clearing came into view, no more intact than the last, but this time I wasted no time stopping. My bare feet splashed through puddles that shouldn't have existed, impossible to avoid in the increasing dark. Part of me had the presence of mind to be disgusted at the muck and grime. The rest knew I had far greater things to worry about.

Mud splattered over the hem of my thin blue graduation robes, increasing the evening chill tenfold. Were I not working up a sweat by running for my life, I would have been shivering worse than ever.

Something crashed into me from behind, sending me sprawling into one of the of the very puddles I'd been trying to circumvent. I gasped at the freezing water dripping down my nose and soaking through my sleeves. The weight forced me down and smothered my attempts to push back up to my feet before I gained enough leverage to try.

"As I said," Shade remarked casually, like he handed just tackled me to the ground. His weight vanished, and I was finally allowed to rise. "There are worse things that can happen to you here than me."

"I doubt that," I panted between swallowing large mouths full of air. I tried once more to run, knowing it was futile, only for him to again grasp my arm in a punishing grip.

"Take a look for yourself."

Almost against my better judgement, I followed his gaze, tracing the route I intended to take, and when my sight better adjusted to the minimal traces of light, I followed that path until the ground abruptly dropped away. A narrow ravine. Part of me contemplated making the leap anyway, regardless of the certain pain in store, because, despite his platitudes, I doubted tumbling countless feet down that steep slope into places unknown could be any more hazardous to my health than staying within smiting distance of his hands - or his ice, or his telekinesis, or who knew what other powers he had up his sleeve.

"You're thinking of taking the plunge anyway," he coldly observed, correctly interpreting the resolve tightening my jaw. "It is... inadvisable to do so. You'll gain nothing but pain for your trouble, and I will be forced to follow regardless. Save both of us some effort, would you?"

"And then," I finished his narrative for him, not bothering to keep the bite from my voice, "I will be even more injured and you will just heal yourself right back up, which will leave me even easier to subdue, right? That is not fair. It's not fair that there's nothing I can do to help myself, nothing I can possibly do to get out of this." I shook my head, utterly and completely at a loss, repeating with increasing anger, "It's not fair. It's not fair!"

"At risk of sounding cliché," Shade said, using his one free hand to brush his cloak clean of leaves and dirt in a display of almost criminal nonchalance, "life isn't fair. I know that better than anyone."

"That's not the same and you know it. You think life isn't fair to you?" I sneered through my anguish. "You can have the saddest childhood of anyone for a thousand miles, but the second you start attacking innocent people your excuses mean nothing to me."

"Innocent?" he repeated, disgust practically dripping from each syllable as they rolled off his tongue. "My enemies are certainly not that."

"I was."

"You don't need to be my enemy."

I rubbed the tender flesh of my neck, the memory of his hands still embedded in my skin. "You have a funny way of showing it."