Madness

Chapter Two: Rebecca

I take a deep breath and open my eyes. I find myself in a small, square, maroon room along with eight to ten other people covered in padded equipment. All of them wore brackets over their faces connected to plastic bulbs atop their heads. Large bags covered the matted floor.

I take another inhale- this time through my nose- and smell an awful scent of B. O. Each person around me sat on wooden benches that matched the walls. Just then a loud buzzer goes off from somewhere outside of the medium-sized room causing all of us to get up, put our mouth guards in and gloves on and head out through the metal, maroon-colored door. Surprisingly, no one seemed panicked by the loud, abrupt noise. Instead it seemed to signal for everyone to move out of the door.

I let the other people go ahead of me taking in their features and attire. All of them were female. And all of them wore the same padded clothing that, I looked down to find, myself was wearing. I tried to speak, yet didn't find the ability, only a rubber horse shoe in my mouth.

This place is quite interesting, you know? I asked the body I was in.

I don't know, dude. You're pretty interesting yourself. I still don't quite understand why you are here. It's really freaky having someone else in your head, she said as an arm moved outwards from her body to grab a long, plastic stick with a curve at one end of it. Then I walked out towards the giant sheet of ice surrounded by glass and metal walls and that's when I realized my feet felt unusual. I looked down and saw weird boot-like things all laced up tightly. I then looked underneath them to find a thick, metal blade.

How the hell are we going to do anything with shoe like this? I asked frantically to the body's mind.

"We" aren't doing anything. "I" am. Right along with my team. "You" are just watching. You are just a guest, don't get too comfortable 'round here. Those are my feet and this is my home. I'm not going to let you take over just like that, she replied harshly.

Understood. Then she took one more step, this one on the ice. After shutting the gate, she pushed off and started gliding around her half of the ice. She worked her legs over to the small circle her team had formed and started stretching with them. We went through her normal stretches and focused on her legs and back. I mentally took notes on this as I noticed that. As all the players got up it was then that I realized how tall this body was compared to them. Her head was always looking down at the other team members. I take note of that as well.

I watch through her eyes as she grabs a short, black cylinder with her stick and starts to glide on the ice with the cylinder still on her stick. Then she turns, leans back on her left leg, drags the stick behind with the cylinder still there, pulled the black thing to one side, and looked up at the net. Except now there was a girl standing there. I watched carefully as she tried to stop the puck from getting inside the net. But, sadly she failed. The body yanked the cylinder to the opposite side and shot it into the net before the padded player could stop the shot.

What is that black cylinder that you keep playing with called? I wondered to the body's mind.

It's called a puck. Now, shut up. I'm trying to concentrate on strategies for the game, she answered harshly.

Fine, fine. But, can you at least explain the game to me so that I'm not bothering you during it? I badgered.

Ugh, yeah, yeah. But, it's going to be a quick explanation so listen up, she agreed.

Okay.

Alright, their is two teams. Each team consists of an average eight to fifteen people. In this case, girls. We run on ice with a boot that has a blade on it that is only an eighth of an inch thick, pass around a little puck, and try to get it in the opposite team's net. All the while you are having six players on the opposing team trying to stop you. You get three periods, each one lasting fifteen minutes. After those three periods are up the game is over. The team with the most pucks shot in the net is the winner. The end. Any other questions? She informed in a big rush.

No, that is all, I replied as I developed the information. A second later the loud buzzer went off again.

Good , because the game is going to start in a minute or so.

She skates over to the bench on her side of the rink where two adult males are waiting for her. The one on the right stands a little taller than she with bright blue eyes and a slight belly to him. He wore a hat that covered his black hair and a wind breaker-type jacket that read "North Shore Storm" on his left breast. The guy next to him was real short and mostly bald and had crinkly, bright eyes that looked too old for a man his age. He also had a slight stomach to him.

"You ready?" The tall one asks the body.

The body's reply came easily, "Ready as I'll ever be." She seemed comfortable with these men, yet still had respect for them.

"Okay, 'cause you're starting," he replies with a friendly smile.

The body's head nods in response and soon the rest of the team has gathered around the coaches. The short one reads off the starting players.

"Callie, center! Emily, right wing! Maia, left wing! Lucia, D. ! Naomi, D. !"

Then we all put a hand in and shout, "Bull Dogs on three! One! Two!," and as we say,"Three," we throw our hands up in the air. Then the players that are out first skate over to their positions while the players that aren't skate over to the bench.

We skate over to a red, painted on circle diagonally behind the player standing in the center. I feel the air tighten with tension as everyone readies themselves.

The body's head looks down and through her eyes I stare at the blank, white sheet of ice waiting for something. Then it came. A high, sharp whistle cut cleanly through the air. And suddenly everything was white. Her skates disappeared along with the entire hockey arena. It was like that movie I watched with Sam when-

Wait, what? My mind starts reeling at the sudden flash of memory. I hadn't remembered anything ever. All I knew was traveling, lab coats, and white. I always woke up to white. Then as I tried to continue wrapping my mind around those thoughts everything went blank.