Darkness Girl: Trickster God

Chapter Forty-Six: Breathing Techniques

The air in the infirmary locker room was tainted with the chemical smells of hand soap and antiseptic. There were four porcelain basins along the back wall, under a bank of mirrors, each with their own industrial sized bottle of hand sanitiser. 

Regan's bare feet made quiet pats on the linoleum floor as she walked down the aisle of metal lockers. The room was unnaturally still, like the air was holding its breath. Regan reached the locker where she'd left her clothes. There was a fresh padlock on the door. She lifted it up to examine it, as if she wanted to check that it was real. 

'Juvenile,' she said. 'All this did was warn me about your intentions.' 

Bennet walked slowly around the end of the aisle. She was smiling like a well fed cat. A pair of girls in Silverwater uniforms mirrored her movements at the opposite end, blocking off Regan's path to the door. 

'Look at that! Some foolish person has put a lock on your locker,' Bennet brushed her fingers across her lips. 'How odd!' 

'You have my attention. There's no reason to keep flogging away at it.' 

'Really? I have your attention? Do I truly? Lucky lucky me!' 

Regan looked over Bennet's shoulder, using the mirrors above the sinks to check behind her. The two other girls hadn't moved. They seemed content to keep their distance at the end of the aisle and watch things unfold. One of them shuffled her feet. They looked young and nervous. 

Bennet caught her glance and mistook it for fear. 'They're here to stop you running.' 

'What do you want?' 

Bennet reached into the pocket of her jeans and withdrew a key on a long, delicate chain. She twirled it around her finger. 

'Do you know how this works?' she said. 'There's a strict order around here, one where I'm at the top and you are well and truly at the bottom. I feel like you're having trouble grasping that. When I ask you a question, I don't expect back-chat I expect an answer.' 

'You seem to be under the illusion you can intimidate me.' 

'This is an object lesson. How painful it is depends on you.' 

Regan moved in until she could whisper in Bennet's ear. 'I can see the weakness written on your face. I know you know what I'm talking about. You see it every day in the mirror. This isn't something you can bluff your way out of.' She held out her hand. 'Give it to me. I won't ask again.' 

Bennet stepped back with an expression of outrage. 'I've been a part of Silverwater for over six years. In that time, I've faced fighters of all kinds, and I've done things that you wouldn't believe. You don't know anything about me. You can try to take this key by force, but I can guarantee that it's going to go badly for you.' 

Regan's feet made no sound as she launched herself forwards. Her speed caught Bennet by surprise, as her hand clamped around her wrist like an industrial vice. Bennet let out a surprised yelp of pain and struck out at Regan's face. Regan swatted her fist away like a blowfly. As Bennet tried to twist free, Regan swept around and kicked out her legs. She hit the floor like a bag of concrete. 

Regan released Bennet's arm and reached down. Bennet's eyes widened in panic as Regan's fingers wove through her mass of ash-blonde hair and grabbed a thick handful. 

'What are you doing?'  

One of the girls that Bennet had brought with her grabbed Regan's shoulder. There was a loud bang as Regan turned and used her free hand to throw the girl's head into the side of a locker. The girl sank to her knees holding her temple. Regan watched her fall, then kicked her in the stomach as an afterthought. The other girl fled. 

Regan began to drag Bennet across the floor by her hair. Bennet screamed and clutched at her head. Her shoes squeaked frantically against the linoleum floor as she struggled to stop her scalp from being torn away from her skull. 

Regan dragged Bennet to the back of the room and lifted her to her feet. Bennet fought against her and kicked her in the shins, but she might as well have kicked a tree. Regan ignored her and forced her head into the sink, pressing her face into the hard porcelain. Bennet screamed. 

Regan looked down at her coldly and turned on the tap. Bennet coughed as water splashed over her face. 

'Wait!' 

The sink filled up quickly as Bennet's hair clogged the plughole. As the water started to cover her nose and mouth, her struggles became frantic. Water splashed into Regan's face as Bennet tried to lift her head. She managed to pull her face out of the water for a second, before Regan slammed her head back into the sink. Bennet tried to pull back, but Regan stomped on the back of her knee and forced her down. 

Regan looked down at Bennet dispassionately as water overflowed the basin and started to stream onto the floor.

There was a bang as the door was kicked open, and suddenly the room was full of the sounds of commotion. Regan could feel people trying to pull her away. She shrugged them off and pushed down on Bennet's head. Someone was yelling. 

A pair of hands slipped around her wrists. Instantly, her forearms went numb. Bennet slid from her grasp and dropped to the floor, coughing up water. People surrounded her immediately. 

Regan looked at her arms, then up into Sarafina's terrified face. She let Sarafina lead her a little way from the crowd of people gathered around the sink, still holding her arms. 

'What did you do?' 

'She pushed. I pushed back harder.' Regan cocked her head to look at Sarafina's hands where they gripped her forearms. 'What have you done to me?' 

Sarafina let go and the feeling returned to Regan's arms and fingers. 

'When we met, I told you I could paralyse muscles by touching them. My craft lets me interrupt the flow of nerve signals with small electrical pulses.' 

Regan massaged her arms. 'Interesting.' 

'Is that all you can think about? You could have killed Bennet!' 

'I was certainly trying.' 

Sarafina looked past her to where Bennet was curled up coughing. Regan turned to follow her gaze, and saw Bennet raise herself to her hands and knees. She swayed from side to side for a moment and vomited onto the floor. 

'We need to get out of here,' said Sarafina. 

Regan followed Sarafina out of the locker room to the corridor outside. As they made their way to the exit, they brushed past two medics carrying a stretcher. Sarafina didn't say anything until they were out of the building 

'What's wrong with you?' she demanded, as they walked into the sun outside. 

'The only way to respond to people like her is with overwhelming force.' 

'I told you, she's more than what you saw. She's petty and mean and childish sometimes, but that's not everything about her.' 

'A challenge is a challenge. I don't waste time thinking about what my opponent is like when they're tying bows on kittens.' 

Sarafina let out an angry sigh. 'Follow me. We need to head this off with Ashcroft.' 

'Why?' 

Sarafina rounded on Regan angrily. There were two pale spots in her cheeks that bloomed and spread. 'Because at this rate you're probably going to be kicked out before the real trials even start.'