Giving {H.S Vampire Fanfiction}

Saving Grace

Saturday came a lot quicker than I would have liked it to.

The days were filled with laughs, probably the first time in my life that I was trully and honestly happy with everything. Lilly's body was looking fuller and healthier by the day, the bruises having all but disappeared. Harry and I were on good terms with each other, a fight having not ensued for nearly two weeks. I was surrounded by people that I cared about and that cared about me, for once.

Life was good.

However, I must attract bad luck because that happiness didn't last for long.

The fight was looming ever so closer, a whisper in the back of my head that refused to shut up. All I could think about was cancelling it to save my own skin, but Pride and Stubborness put their foot down. 

I was going to die tonight.

It would undoubtedly be painful.

My whole Saturday was spent in the gym, sparring against dummies, reading over martial arts techniques, and snacking on crappy vending machine food. By the time noon swung around, I had been there for four hours and probably sweat enough to fill the swimming pool. 

Harry even came by around one o'clock after he'd been looking for me and he said he should have known that I'd be here. He offered to stay, but I adamantly refused.

It stung me a little bit to see the look of hurt on his face for a second, but I couldn't risk him knowing what I was going to do. 

He could help you, the voice in my mind whispered.

Shut up, I replied, having said that to myself the entire week.

Although I had told him no, it took a while to get Harry moving out of the gym, his stubborness almost as bad as mine. He could tell something was wrong and I'd never been good at keeping things from him. I could see it in his eyes as he looked at me, but as much as I wanted him to help me, there are some things that you have to do alone.

And so Harry left.

I was all alone for the rest of the day, my only company being the beaten down dummies for sparring practice and the occasional trainee who left after an hour. It was calming and frustrating at the same time to be in a room with only the patter of sleet on the roof and the pounding of skin on mats to resound through the spacious room. 

Punch. Punch. Kick. Flip.

Punch. Punch. Kick. Flip.

It was routine over and over again until the knuckles on my hands began to bleed. This wasn't healthy. This wasn't safe.

But I was an idiot so I continued with it until I physically could not go on at six. Daylight's Savings made it so that the sun had already begun to set and within the hour it would be pure darkness. The sleet on the roof had long since stopped before I pulled myself into the changing room to catch my breath.

I needed a refresher as I took a quick rinse under the shower head, changing into a new pair of clothes. The shorts and T-shirt felt comforting and my damp hair fell lank around my head as I sat by the lockers. 

There was still time. I could leave.

In fact I was just about to when I heard the distant slam of the gym door outside and I furtivley peered my head out to see. The double doors leading into the dark cold night were fastened with a padlock by four people in hoodies, all whispering.

I did manage to make out one distinct voice over all the others. "Dude, it's just a precaution in case she makes a run for it."

Another one piped up. "How do we know if she's even here yet? We might have just locked her out."