killer instinct - || h.s. ||

20 *

" he just wanna eat me like some candy, but i'm not his buttercup "

---

aurora astor. *

I roll my neck as I head out of my apartment. I have my hood up and my duffle in my hand as I've never been more relieved to have a fight tonight.

The anticipation has been building for days, brewing within me to be able to feel what I crave in that ring again – the high I get from the power and control I get in there with the bright lights and cheering crowd.

It's quite fucked up if you truly think about it. You've got to be really fucked in the head to be enjoying beating the shit out of people.

Maybe that's why watching people get killed in front of me hasn't phased me.

Christ–

I push the metal door open to the cold late night air of this city, Lou's running car waits at the curb where the other once was. My breath forms in a little cloud in front of me under the flickering golden light as I open the door and I get into the loud, hip-hop music that brings up my heart rate.

"Hey." Jules chimes with a smile on her own face.

"Hey." I put on a smile for the both of them, giving her a hug as Lou pulls away from the curb. "Give it to me, Lou," I tell him and he chuckles as I lean over the armrest in between their two seats.

"Uh- this guy is twice your size and his stance is too wide," Lou mutters as he nods with his strong accent. I nod at him but, in all honesty, it all just went in one ear and out the other. I just hum in some sort of response for him.

"Hey ..." Jules starts and I turn my head to look over at her with happiness etched all over her face, my eyebrows knit together instantly. "You graduate next week!" She excitedly reveals and I breathe out a laugh with a slight nod.

She pats my cheek. "My girl is growing up too fast ..." she snickers and I snort at her as Lou groans. "What time?" She asks me and I rub at my temple, trying to remember.

"I think 8 ..." I mutter and she huffs at me, making me knit my eyebrows together as I focus on Jules rather than the driving right now.

"I have a shift but ... come over after and we'll go out and celebrate." She says happily as Lou nods with her in agreement, I just exhale out another laugh and I shake my head.

"There's no reason to celebrate the fact that I'll be done with school and still paying for it," I mumble and Jules groans as Lou chuckles through his nose.

"No, ifs, ands, or buts ... we're celebrating how fucked the American education system is!" Jules says with a bright smile. I lightly chuckle, only saying yes because I'd rather get wasted than sit by myself in my apartment with my own bottle of wine.

"Okay ... nothing big ..." I warn her but she just smiles devilishly and I snort a little.

"Okay fuck- focus, Rory. I'm pretty sure this guy has managed to get a hit on Styles before." Lou snaps like it's rare and my blood simmers from the thought for some reason, but it's all welcoming tonight to just add to this built of anger and frustration that I have inside of me.

I reach down to my duffle to grab the tape and start to wrap up my knuckles just as I like it done. "You remember what I said?" Lou starts again and I nod at him with a hum.

"Yes, Lou, I'll be fine," I tell him as he pulls into the parking lot of the club and I grab my mask as I drop my tape into my bag. I tie up my short hair into a messy bun at the top of my head tightly and I tie the mask to cover my eyes.