The Vigilante's Handbook (Misfits #1)

Seven (Part 2): The Awful Outcome

And neither was the hook she threw next. Or the next one. Or the next. Three in quick succession that sent me scrambling backward near the edge of the ring. Thud, thud, crouch. The third missed as I ducked below the hit and dodged away. In a hail mary sort of play, I swept out my foot to catch her ankle, as Malee had done to Alek. She jumped over it, but it gave me enough time to right myself and sidestep her.

We lined back up in the center and began circling again. This time I wasn't going to take my eyes off her.

"How are your hands?" I didn't need to ask. They were bloody red now. The fragile new skin was almost broken. With any luck, Mona would be attending to both of us after class.

"Shut up." An easy enough way to put an end to the discussion. It was followed by a wave of punches that found their mark. I didn't have time to shuffle away, let alone retaliate.

Exposing my right side--I always exposed my right side--I sent an uppercut to her jaw. Then left elbow to her raised arms. Finally a kick to her side. Only one connected.

She smiled even after the first uppercut hit had broken blood vessels. "Not bad."

A compliment? She really was pulling out all the stops.

The back of my head hit the mat. It provided little cushion from my fall.

Distracted again. And with this one came the taint of blood in the room. Metallic and warm. The force sent a little trickling out of my nostril. Lucia had used Malee's exact technique on me. Leg sweep and a knee on my sternum. Just enough pressure for it to hurt, not enough to do permanent damage. I should have expected it.

Her forearm barely hovered over my windpipe, the other fist ready to strike again.

Instinctually I closed my eyes. I would rather not see my defeat.

"Tap out." I wasn't sure Lucia had said anything until I opened my eyes. She hadn't even stopped gritting her teeth to tell me, but there it was again. "Tap out now." If I hadn't known Lucia forever, I would have thought she was showing mercy, giving me a way out. Maybe she was. It sure sounded like it.

"What?"

"Not loud enough for them to hear." Apparently, my ventriloquism wasn't on par. "Hit the mat."

This exchange was taking far too long. Mr. Forrest would dock both of us if she didn't act soon. And heavens knew that I didn't have room on my grade to be penalized anymore if I wanted to graduate. Believe me, I wanted to graduate.

In hindsight, I should have listened to her. When going head to head with someone twice as strong as you even without a gift, I found it was best to fold at the first opportunity. But I was angry and impulsive and generally dumb when it came to fighting.

So I tried to throw her weight off me with my hips. If I could flip her I could win. Or at least continue the fight.

She pressed her knee further into my chest. It forced the air from my lungs, and I let out a sharp exhale. Around us, the crowd was yelling. Shouting their bets probably. "Tap out."

"Get off." With an animalistic scream, I threw my weight to the right with every ounce of strength I could summon. Lucia did not expect that. She tumbled backward from the force, palms skidding across the floor, skin breaking. "I am not weak."

Then I did something stupid.

You're thinking, "Anna, you have done so many stupid things already, how could you possibly top that? You have already broken the first unspoken rule of Paramount Lake. You got in a gunfight. You think freezing a water bottle is impressive. You have already set the bar pretty low for yourself."

To which I say, "You are correct, if a little judgemental."

But this was worse.

I tried to cool my body down just enough that I could use my powers.

From the exertion of fighting someone like Lucia, I was producing a lot of heat in an average person, nowhere near heroic kind of way. Sweat stained my clothes and dripped down my temples. My cheeks were flushed. If I tried freezing the mat with this body temperature, I would faint almost immediately. So I tried to sneak some out while I circled Lucia as she got to her feet. I was going to win this thing almost fair and square. I wasn't going to kick her when she was down. That would take away the glory in it.

Around us, the room was in an outrage. Forrest was blowing his whistle like it was a party kazoo on New Year's Eve.

Lucia threw herself off the mat, coming face to face with me once more.

"Stop pretending that you belong here."

I could see her list of mental list of tactics, crossing them off one by one. Play the guilt card of her burned arms. Distract me with Diego. Throw me off guard with a compliment. And, when all else failed, make me angry. Bad plan.

I ran headlong into her. "I am not weak." My shoulder hit her in the gut and took her breath away. Both of us tumble to the ground again in a scrappy mess. She threw a punch that connected with my ear and made the world ring. I clawed at her new skin with desperation.

Lucia threw me off her with superhuman strength, the back of her hand lit up like a Christmas tree. Probably after she saw mine start to glow. We had already broken the rules, that explained the shouting sidelines. Might as well make it worth it then.

Still sprawled on my back, I slammed an open palm against the wrestling mat. Ice fractured through the rubber instantly. It spread until the whole floor was an ice skating rink that no one but me could navigate. She tried to stumble to her feet, slipping as she got up to one knee. One of her fists beat against the ground beneath her, ice cracking faster than I could regrow it.

I threw my hand into the air in a deft movement, praying I could get control of the situation. Where Lucia had been seconds before sprang a cage of icy spikes thick enough you would need superhuman strength to break through them. Maybe not the greatest deterrent for Lucia who, you know, had superhuman strength.

But she wasn't within the bars.

Instead, she leaped through the air just in time to escape my icy clutches. She landed inches away and resumed her position over me, knee digging painfully into my chest. This time with enough pressure to break bones if she wasn't careful.

"You should have tapped out."

"Not a chance."

Then Lucia's fist smashed into my nose.

Y'all this might be the first fight scene that I'm actually proud of. And this was the point in my draft that I really started to figure out Anna and Lucia's relationship. Trust me, this is just the beginning.

Also, get ready for an early update next week (Sunday, March 10) because I'm going to be on a cruise for Spring Break on my usual Tuesday update! I don't know what I'm looking forward to more, my first cruise or being done with midterms.

-m nicole