Broken World Chapter 3

Managed to write chapter 3
Previous Chapter: Chapter 2 
Here's the page for links to all chapters. 

                Once again Edwin hadn’t managed to get much sleep. The idea of having someone keeping watch over his house should’ve made him feel safer, but it just made him even more paranoid. He found it hard to sleep while feeling like he was being watched. Even so, still feeling tired, he dragged himself out of bed to go have a shower and eat some cereal for breakfast before heading to school.

                Stayford didn’t seem completely alien to him now. He’d looked online at maps of the area, trying to familiarise himself. As he made his way to school he saw a few familiar street names and tried to map out where they led to in his mind. It didn’t take long for him to get to the familiar sight of the high school.

               

                Stayford College of Learning. It was called a college even though it was clearly a high school. Edwin found that amusing. It was one of the high schools that had started adding an extra two years on to the compulsory years of high school. After graduating from year 11 (11 years of education including those of primary school, that is) the student would then go on to study A Levels at that same high school for a further two years.

                As he neared the school he saw a familiar person at the gate. Yawning and scratching her head, she jumped to attention as she saw him getting closer.

                “Aha, you’re here!” Beatrix said, rushing over to him.

                I wonder what year she’s in. She doesn’t seem younger than me…

                She grabbed his arm. Edwin had to wonder if she was this friendly with everyone she’d punched in the face. She started pulling him along. “Time to introduce you to Seymour, and he’ll know what to do with ya!”

                Edwin tried to pull away but she was surprisingly strong for her size.

                “I do, you know, have class and stuff. Maybe this should wait until after?” he expressed, slightly annoyed, also feeling uncomfortable at being pulled along by the arm.

                “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ve told your teacher Mrs Clark everything. She knows the deal. You won’t get in any trouble. Man, I used to have her as my teacher back in the day. Isn’t she awesome?”

                Knows the deal? Wait a minute…

               

                “What do you mean you told her everything? And what do you mean she knows the deal?” he’d managed to bring her to a stop now, as more questions piled on top of each other.

                “Ya didn’t know? I guess you wouldn’t, huh. Yeah Mrs Clark is part of our organisation! She’s pretty darn tough too.”

                “Seriously? My teacher is part of your organisation? This keeps getting crazier and crazier….” Then he was being pulled along again.

*

                Edwin and Beatrix entered one of the computer rooms, almost completely empty except for one person. Sitting at one of the computers with his legs up on the deck was someone who was definitely older than Edwin, but couldn’t have been by much. He was still wearing the school uniform after all. He must be doing A Levels. He had shoulder-length hair and wore glasses. He also had headphones on. Edwin could hear some sort of music coming from them, the sound muffled just enough so he couldn’t tell what it was.

                “Oiy Seymour!” Beatrix called as they neared him. He looked over at them, looked back to the screen, clicked something with the mouse, took off his headset, and turned back to them.

                “Yo Beatrix. What’s up? Is this the guy you told me about?” He had a slightly northern tone to his voice. Edwin realised that Beatrix had a countryside accent that he hadn’t thought too much about. Neither of them are from here originally, are they? He wondered. Just like me.

                “Yup this is the guy. Oh yeah… he also knows about Mrs Clark now…” she said, looking down. Then, looking at the computer screen, as if trying to change the subject “Oh! What’re you working on? New weapons?”

               

                Seymour glanced back to the screen, then switched the monitor off.

                “Right, let’s start.” He looked around, making sure that the room really was empty. He walked over to the door and produced a key from his pocket and locked it. “It’s Edwin right? I’m Seymour, nice to meet you.” He produced his hand and Edwin shook it. “Alright so you’ve seen a demon. There’s no going back from that. So I’ll start with the basics.”

                Beatrix took a seat, looking attentive. Edwin followed suite.

                “So imagine that the world you know, the everyday, ordinary, human world, overlaps with another world…. Ah yes, Be told me that you’ve seen her wolf as well…. “ He sighed. “This’ll take some explaining. Alright, so… Humans share this world with animals. That much is obvious. The further you get from humanity, away from the cities and civilisation, the more you move into the world of animals. There exist animals that can’t be seen by the normal human eye, like how demons can’t usually be seen. Except in this case animals are meant to be here. You might have heard of mythical creatures, such as chimaeras, hydras, even dragons. They pop up in history over time, dismissed as myth. Now even our organisation isn’t all-knowing about all of them, but some of these ‘mythical’ creatures are real, and they rarely appear to humanity. There are pockets of space in this world that a normal human can’t reach. They’re not on any map, but they’re there. And these are where these mythical creatures live. Be’s wolf is one such mythical beast. This wolf, like many mythical creatures, show supernatural powers, like magic. Be’s wolf, in particular, is almost like an elemental of ice. It’s breath can freeze a person, and it’s strength and even it’s size are beyond any wolf documented. These mythical creatures also exhibit another, important, attribute. They can fight on par with demons. While a normal human can’t see demons, and has no method of harming them even if they could see them, these beasts can actually fight them.” He stopped then, seeing that Edwin was sat in contemplation. “It’s a lot to take in I know”

                “Dragons? Wolfs with breath that freezes?” Various images popped to his mind. In Chinese mythology there were tigers who set fire to everything they crossed. In Japanese mythology there were foxes that could cast illusions on people. In Norse mythology there were elves, dwarves, giants…. And, of course, in English Arthurian legend there were dragons… “This is…. Crazy.” Yet he’d encountered a demon. He surprised himself then when he accepted the idea. Mythical beasts didn’t seem that unlikely if demons were real. “Alright then. So where do demon’s fit in with all this?” he asked, looked to Seymour.

                Seymour smiled then, as if in approvement of Edwin’s acceptance.

                “Beyond the lands of mythical beasts, far beyond, there exists another world completely. The world of demons. Monstrous entities from man’s worst nightmares. Ever hungering for human flesh….. Well, some of them anyway. Make no mistake, they’re all bad. The thing about demons is that, from what we know, they should be too far removed from the human world to ever come here. Across history, however, there have been instances of demons crossing over to our world. Each time humanity has come out on top, sealing the demons back to their hell. Over time our organisation came about, to protect people from the horrors that they can’t accept as real. We’ve developed weapons to fight them, armour to protect against them, and some people, like Be here, have made friends with mythical creatures to help even the odds. After all, even with armour and weapons, demons are… well… monstrous. Whereas we are only human…” Seymour let out a long breath. And then he casually opened up a bag that he’d kept underneath the computer desk, took out a bottle of cola, and had a drink.

                This is… still crazy. Yet there it was; an explanation for what he’d seen. This new information settled strangely comfortably in his mind. For a moment it was almost as if he’d already known all of this and forgotten it, and he was just now being reminded about the true nature of the world. Not possible. He dismissed the thought. Minutes passed until he finally looked back to Seymour.

                “Ok, so if that’s the true nature of the world, then, now that I’ve seen one of them, what happens to me now?” he asked.

                Seymour looked to Beatrix, then back to Edwin. “Well…” he started. He scratched his chin for a moment than sat back down on his chair, looking to Edwin on an even level. “Now you’ve got a choice to make. You’ve seen one of them. You can’t take that back. So now you either try to fight them with us, or…. You hope that you never run into one again, you leave them to us, and you carry on with your life. It’s not very likely you’ll run into one again.”

                So I could do… nothing? Just live my life knowing they’re there and hoping they don’t one day kill me. He thought back to his encounter again. The monster was frightening, and he really couldn’t imagine how he’d be able to fight against something like that. He didn’t want to end up as that thing’s meal.

                “I’ll….. leave you to it.” He felt guilty as soon as the words left his mouth, but he really didn’t want to encounter a monster again. Seymour looked understanding. Beatrix looked sad for a moment but when she noticed Edwin looking at her she replaced her look with a reassuring smile. “After seeing that monster… I really can’t imagine fighting something like that. And knowing your organisation is out there fighting them… will make me feel a bit safer.”

                “Good!” Seymour said, surprising Edwin. “To be honest you’d have to be crazy to willingly join the fight against them. Like I said, we’re human, they’re demons. I’m not going to lie, joining the fight would probably end up with you dying”

                Is that meant to make me feel better?

                “If” Edwin started. “I do, by some chance, run into one again, what should I do?”

                Seymour looked thoughtful for a moment, then took out his phone.

                “I’m going to give you a phone number to call. Hopefully the next time one shows up we’ll take care of it anyway. But if you see one and we’re not already there, phone us up. Also….” he handed his phone over, with a number highlighted under the name ‘T.Public.Number’ which Edwin quickly saved into his own phone. “I going to get you some special clothes that should protect you from them. They’re made out of a material that will function as armour against them, and it should also make them less likely to target you”

                That actually did make Edwin feel better. Something to actually protect him in case he came across another one of them.

                “Come back here during lunch and I’ll be here with them”

*

                True to his word Seymour had procured some protection for Edwin. It was like a one-piece; it even covered the feet, and had a zip to do it up. The hands and sleeves were removable luckily. Edwin had tried it on straight away, now wearing it under his clothes. It was a thin material, but Seymour had reassured him that this was the best option. Easily concealable, and the material would be effective.

                The school day came to an end. Tom and his two friends hadn’t targeted Edwin at all. Edwin figured that they’d probably been sated after watching Beatrix beat him in the ring. Arthur had been noticeably absent for the entire day as well. It had been a peaceful day. Although he couldn’t help but look at Mrs Clark in a new light, knowing that she spent her nights fighting demons.

                As he left the school he heard a familiar voice.

                “Edwin!” Beatrix was calling out to him.

                She caught up to him fast enough as he turned towards her.

                “What’s the problem? I’m not going to join your organisation” he said.

                “I know, I know” she said. Edwin could tell she was trying to hide the disappointment from her voice. “I didn’t wanna talk to ya about that. I wanted to ask ya to join the boxing club!”

                Ah, the boxing club. Edwin turned and started walking away. She didn’t take the hint. She walked next to him.

                “You got good reactions. And ya seem to be good at gettin’ into trouble. But you’re not that good. I beat ya! But if you join us, I reckon I could teach you a lot”

                He had been thinking lately that he was out of shape. He’d ended up out of breath in a very short fight with Beatrix. If he could see me now he’d be disappointed. When he had been young he had been whipped into shape by his father, or the closest thing he had to a father anyway. He wasn’t his biological father, but he had taken care of him. Kind of…. He had taught Edwin how to fight. He’d said it was some school of kung fu, but Edwin doubted it. The kind of man that he was, Edwin wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d made it up. It was effective though, and Edwin had been in much better shape than he was nowadays.

                “I’ve been wondering” he started. “How is it that you ended up being the only girl in a boxing club? Club captain even. Seems a bit unusual”

                “It’s not that interesting. When I got transferred here” Aha I was right, she’s really not from here “there wasn’t a girl’s boxing club, only one for guys. So I joined anyways, and it turned out I was better than anyone else there! So it was only a matter of time before I became captain. Now it’s my job to train them up!” She seemed proud. Edwin didn’t blame her. It was impressive. He wondered whether she’d learned boxing in order to fight demons, or if they were unrelated. Being in peak physical condition must help.

                Edwin sighed. He might regret it but…..

                “Fine. I’ll join. Don’t blame me if I end up better than you though” he said.

                She practically jumped for joy.

                “Great! Ha ha! You won’t regret it. I’ll make you the best boxer you can be!” she patted him on the shoulder enthusiastically. “We got practice tomorrow after school, so make sure you show up! The sports centre in F block, where I kicked your ass last time!” and with that as a farewell she turned and went back the other way towards her home.

                “Great… Oh well. I suppose no one forced me into it. It might even be fun” he said out loud, looking up at the sky. Clouds filled the sky. It looked like it was going to rain. He rushed home.

*

                Edwin woke with a start. His senses were alert. He checked his phone in his bedside cabinet. 1:20 a.m? What the hell…. Then he heard a crash from outside. It sounded far away, but it was very loud. Could it be a demon? Seymour had said it would be unlikely Edwin would encounter one again. Another crash. He sat there in bed, hoping there wouldn’t be another sound. But there was, one that got rid of any doubt instantly.

                An otherworldly screech pierced the night. It was definitely one of them. But why? Was it coming for him? Suddenly he was aware of the walls around him. If it came to his house he’d have nowhere to run. Then he was getting dressed. At least if he was outside he could run away. He put on the one-piece that should protect him, then put his normal clothes over it. He was outside. He noticed a few people looking out their window, curious as to what had crashed. He guessed they couldn’t hear the screech. Then he heard it again. It was round the corner at the end of the street. He should go the other way. But his feet started leading him towards it. He wasn’t sure why, but he had to see it. It went to grab his phone, then realised he’d left it inside. Damnit. That was stupid. Then another crash and he was running towards it. He saw a flame rise above the houses, brightening the night, then it faded, followed by another screech. He rounded the corner, but he wasn’t ready for the sight before him.

                He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. Maybe another tentacled demon like the one he’d first encountered. Maybe something from mythology, some scaled humanoid creature that always appeared in movies.

                The creature’s body was suspended on spider-like legs almost as tall as the houses around it. It looked like a giant spider, except its body was elongated like a centipede, with spider-like legs all the way to the other end. Its mouth opened in another screech, revealing viscous fangs that looked like they’d rip to pieces anybody they grabbed a hold of. Its eyes…. What was most disturbing was its lack of eyes. Its head moved around as if following some other sense that allowed it to know its surroundings. It looked downwards, and as Edwin followed its gaze he saw someone familiar.

                Melisandre?

                Then he was running towards her.

                “Mel!” he shouted, wondering what the hell she was doing there. Was the demon after her? Could she see them too?

                “People say she believes in demons” That was what Arthur had said.

                As she looked towards him she seemed shocked, then she frowned. She turned back towards the demon and extended her hand. Flames shot towards the creature, causing it to shriek and flinch away. Edwin realised then that even she must be part of the organisation. He didn’t understand why but that knowledge shocked him hard. He stopped running, suddenly realising the terror of his mistake as the demon turned its attention towards him.

                “Run!” Melisandre shouted, but the demon was too fast. Suddenly it was above him, and one of its spider-like legs that ended in a nasty looking point hit him in the chest, impaling him to the ground. Pain wracked his body as air was expelled from his lungs. He looked down, expecting to see blood and guts, but there was none. The one-piece had held together and protected him, just like Seymour said. “It worked” he muttered. But then another leg came down, stabbing into his shoulder even harder than the first. This time the armour didn’t hold. Its leg burst through and went straight through his shoulder and into the ground underneath. Edwin screamed in pain.

                Flame lit up the sky again and suddenly the demon as off him. He tried moving but it just caused more pain to spread through his body. He managed to turn his head and saw the hole through his shoulder. Blood was spreading across the ground fast. He couldn’t see the fight between Mel and the demon anymore. He couldn’t lift his head to look. Is it just me or is it getting darker? The world closed in around him as the pain from his shoulder became the only thing he could feel.

               

Broken World Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of Broken World! If you haven't read chapter 1 then here's the link: http://edenwriting.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/broken-world.html
Hope people enjoy.

                Edwin sat in class, thinking about the night before. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, and the sleep he had gotten was filled with nightmares about whatever monster he’d encountered the night before. The teacher, Mrs Clark, didn’t pick him to answer any questions though, which was good because he wasn’t paying attention to what she had been saying. He guessed that she’d probably leave him alone for a few days to settle in. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, a distraction from thoughts about the night before came at break time.

                As Edwin left the school building into the playground somebody bumped into him, and he could tell it was on purpose. It was the guy who’d made fun of his name the day before. What was the kid’s name? He hadn’t been paying attention. Edwin ignored the first bump but the guy did it again. “Get out of my way, new kid” the guy said. Edwin could either be bullied for the rest of the year by this guy, or make a stand now. He pushed him back, with enough force for him to fall over; he hadn’t been expecting that. Edwin didn’t say anything. The guy’s two friends from the same class surrounded Edwin, their expressions suddenly serious.

                “You’re gonna regret that” the bully said as he got back to his feet.

                “I doubt it” Edwin retorted.

                The bully smiled and then punched Edwin; faster than Edwin had been expecting. The punch hit him with enough force to send him to the ground. He was pretty sure he’d scraped his elbow as well. The two other guys laughed.

                “Good one, Tom” one of them said.

                Tom, huh?

                “Yeah, good one Tom!” Edwin shouted as he got back to his feet and launched himself at the guy. He’d learnt his lesson from being the target of bullying at other schools; Just hit the guy enough to make him regret starting a fight with me. Don’t want to overdo it though, wouldn’t want to get expelled again.

                Thing didn’t go Edwin’s way though. Tom somehow managed to block and move out of the way of all of Edwin’s punches. Unlike the other bullies Edwin had encountered, this guy was actually experienced at fighting. A punch to the stomach sent Edwin reeling back, winded. Tom laughed at him.

                What did the guy next to me say yesterday? “You shouldn’t have threatened him”

                “I’m a member of the boxing club, Edwin, you can’t beat me, so just let me rough you up a bit as punishment and I’ll let you go”. He was already on Edwin, knees on his chest to stop him moving.

                Boxing? I remember now. He shouldn’t have reminded me. There are ways to fight that aren’t allowed in a boxing match, so if this guy’s skill was all based on his boxing practice, Edwin would be able to take advantage. As Tom went to punch Edwin again, Edwin went straight for the guy’s throat. He grabbed it and pulled Tom in close enough to hit heads. That was unexpected enough for Tom to pull back and away from Edwin. As he did so, Edwin got to his knees and went for Tom’s legs, taking him to the ground. He managed to get in only one punch until Tom’s friends started kicking him, forcing him to roll off Tom and get to his feet.

                “Wait!” Tom shouted at his friends, who immediately stopped. “Don’t get involved in my fight!” he said to them, his face angry with indignation. The two backed off and Tom ran at Edwin. Edwin was ready this time. He kicked Tom in the stomach, doubling him over, then kicked him in the side of the head, sending him to the floor.

                By that time they were surrounded by classmates who had noticed them fighting and come to watch. Unexpectedly they got in the way and pulled the two away from each other.

                “What is wrong with you, are you both children or something?” somebody retorted from the crowd.

                “It’s only his second day. I bet he’ll get in trouble for this” someone else said.

                “After school!” Edwin heard Tom shout over the crowd. “After school I’ll get you!” as he was pulled away.

                Edwin was surrounded by classmates then, telling him off for getting into a fight. Someone telling him to go to the nurse’s office. He knew they’d already made up their minds about him. Just like all the other schools. He ignored them and pushed his way out of the crowd, just wanting to be away from them all. He’d been put in a bad mood.

                When he was sure he was alone and no one was following him he made his way round the back of the school and found a ladder which lead to the roof. He climbed up, planning to eat his lunch and have a drink alone up there, where nobody could bother him. He found that he wasn’t alone. Sitting down, leaning against a wall, was the red-haired girl from his class. She was reading a book, although as he got onto the roof she eyed him warily. He awkwardly walked over to her, remembering her name that the teacher had spoken while taking the register in the morning. Melisandre.

                “Hey… you’re.. Mel, right?” he asked, hoping it’d sound a bit less awkward calling her by the shortened form. She placed the book down and eyed him up. He looked at his elbow. He had indeed scraped it. It was red and there was a tiny bit of blood but it wasn’t too bad. Should he explain? Would that be weird? He just put his hands in his pockets and looked back over to her. This was the girl that his blonde classmate had said believed in demons. What was his name again? Melisandre was the only name he’d paid attention to.

                “Yes, that’s me” she answered. “Do you have business with me?” How formal.

                How the hell should I start this? “I saw a demon last night” ? I don’t think I should be saying that to people….

                “I heard that you… uh… know something about… demons?” the words awkwardly came out. She frowned. Uh oh. She put her book in her bag and got to her feet.

                “Where did you hear that from?” she asked. She didn’t sound angry, more… suspicious.

                “Our classmate told me…” Edwin said quietly. “The blonde one sat next to me”

                Her eyes widened at the word ‘blonde’, then her frown deepened. She was definitely angry now.

                “Well it’s not true. Just some stupid rumour he came up with. Don’t believe anything he says. He’s a troublemaker. Although… maybe you are too” she said, and she turned to leave.

                “Hey I’m not a troublemaker! Trouble just always finds me. Damn that Tom kid….” But she didn’t turn back. She walked over to the ladder and climbed down, and she was gone.

                Edwin sighed. “Great……..”

*

                “Why did you tell me she believes in demons!?” Edwin asked his blonde neighbour when he was back in class.

                “Why? What do you mean?” asked the blonde guy back, seeming confused although with a slightly amused smile on his face. “You…. Did you ask her about it? Jeez I didn’t take you for the type to believe in silly stories about demons Edwin” he said, laughing.

                Gah, how annoying.

                “I don’t. But yeah I did ask her, and she said that I shouldn’t believe anything you say. Maybe she’s right” Edwin answered. The blonde boy just laughed again.

                “Maybe, maybe. Believe whoever you want, Edwin! You have that freedom. All I said, though, was that people say she believes in demons. It’s just something I heard. Besides, maybe she’s lying. If you believed in demons, would you go around telling everyone?”

                Does he know? Edwin sighed. Well, it’s true enough. I can’t go around telling people I saw a monster last night. I’d get put into a mental asylum… Maybe she’s the same as me. Still…. This guy…. He glanced over at him. Why did I end up having to make friends with him. He really does seem like a troublemaker. Wait… Friend? Is that right? The guy had purposefully put the story about demons into Edwin’s head. He doubted the monster had anything to do with it, but this guy definitely seemed like he enjoyed messing around with people. But… he was also the only one who had talked to Edwin, and on his first day as well, as if he was a normal person.

               

                “What’s your name again?” Edwin asked.

                “Jeez, you don’t even know my name. Such a disappointment Edwin…. My name’s Casimir, nice to meet you!”

                “Casimir? Seriously?”

                He looked thoughtful for a moment, as if weighing up his options.

                “Guess I can’t fool you. My real name is Arthur.” He didn’t seem like he was lying, but Edwin made a note to try to remember to pay attention the next day when their teacher would call out all their names.  

*

                When school had come to an end, Edwin was on his way to leave through the main gate when someone grabbed his arm. He tried to turn around but someone grabbed his other arm too and suddenly he got pulled away, tripping over his own feet as he was pulled backwards. He turned his head enough to see that it was Tom’s two friends, as well as a few other people he didn’t recognise, with Tom at their lead.

                “Make sure he doesn’t run off” Tom said.

                “What the hell are you doing?” Edwin shouted at him. He knew when he was outmatched. He didn’t think he could take on this many people, especially if they were all members of the boxing club. Even so, false confidence might save him. “Let go of me now unless you want me to kick your ass again!”

                Tom just laughed.

                “I’m going to teach you what happens to people who cross me, any way that I have to.”

                Edwin tried shouting out for help, but when other students saw the group they left them alone. Cowards….

                They took him to a building he hadn’t been to before. He hadn’t realised how huge this school was before. As they took him down corridors and past classrooms Edwin kept looking in each one for potential help, but everyone had already seemingly left. Finally he was dragged into what looked like a sports hall.

                “This is the guy I told you about. He needs to learn some respect!” came Tom’s voice. Everything that he says is annoying. He will pay for this.

                “Alright, give him some gloves and throw him into the ring” came a voice. A girl’s voice.

                They let go of Edwin then, and he could turn around fully. In front of him was a boxing ring. An impressive boxing ring; seemed like the right size and looked professionally made. Inside the ring was a girl wearing blue shorts and a blue sports top. Even her boxing gloves were blue, as she practiced some shadow boxing.

                “Here you go” came the annoying voice of Tom. He pushed Edwin from behind, and as Edwin turned around he was presented with a pair of gloves.

                “What the hell? You expect me to do what you want?”

                Tom smiled evilly and looked to his friends. They grabbed Edwin and forcefully pushed him into the ring. Then they spread out to make sure he couldn’t easily escape. Edwin got to his feet angrily, still holding the gloves.

                “You’re going to want to put those gloves on” the girl advised. Edwin noted that she was slightly shorter than him. She seemed familiar…. Isn’t she…. The girl from last night? He couldn’t be sure. It had been dark and he’d only seen her for a short while before he’d ran away. Although she had been wearing blue clothes too….

                “Why should I have to fight you?” Edwin asked.

                “Because you picked on one of my club members.” She answered. She mock punched the air in front of Edwin. She seemed unwilling to hit him until he’d put the gloves on, but it seemed like she was getting impatient.

                “But he’s the one who started it. I was only standing up for myself” Edwin replied, although by the look on the girl’s face he could tell she wasn’t going to stop. He looked down at the gloves. Fine. He put them on.

                “I don’t care either way” she said. As soon as his gloves were on she lunged towards him, fist first. He managed to block it, just barely. “Good reactions” she complimented. Then she was punching him.

                Edwin managed to block a few of them but then the force and speed behind them got faster. He didn’t have a chance to even think about hitting back. He backed off, but she stayed on him. Damnit. She was literally running circles around him, punching him from every angle. When he’d blocked a few simple punches from the front she swung in from the side and got him in the side of the head. He tried to escape her range but she was too fast. She’s a boxer though, right? And I never agreed to a boxing match…. He sacrificed his defence, taking some painful hits to the face, but managed to swing his leg up in a powerful kick. There’s no way she’d be expecting that. 

                Then Edwin was on the floor. She had been expecting that. Or maybe she was just that fast. She’d caught his leg and swung it up, sending him to the floor.

                “Come on, get up” she said, sounding impatient. “Maybe you don’t wanna fight by boxing rules, but I will”

                The guys surrounding the boxing ring were cheering now. Edwin could hear Tom laughing. It made him angry.

                He pushed himself up and tried kicking for her legs. She jumped out of the way. Then Edwin was on his feet and he brought the fight to her, punching left and right. She dodged each one, hitting him a few times in the face as compensation for his effort. He tried to get her into the pattern of defending against his punches, then he sent another kick at her. She seemed surprised for a moment and back away. He moved in towards her though and kicked again. This one actually connected! He’d managed to kick her in the stomach. The cheering stopped for a moment. She hesitated and he closed the ground for another, stronger kick. He realised his mistake too late. She crouched, blocking his kick with her iron-like guard, then uppercut him right in the jaw, sending him to the ground again. This time, though, he couldn’t get back up. His teeth chattered and the force rang through his head. His senses took a while to come back but when they did he realised the crowd were cheering again.

                “I kinda feel sorry for him now…” came Tom’s voice from the crowd.

                Edwin tried to get back to his feet but only managed to get up to a sitting position. The girl knelt next to him.

                “Just stay there for a while. I hit ya pretty hard in the jaw. I’m gonna kick these rapscallions out then I wanna talk to you alone” she said.

                He realised he was out of breath as well. I must really be out of shape. He took his gloves off and held his ringing head.

*

                It hadn’t taken long for the boxing club president to send everybody home. Then it was just him and her. He’d gotten out of the ring now, rubbing his sore jaw. She looked him up and down.

               

                “I wasn’t sure at first, but it is you from yesterday isn’t it!” she accused more than asked. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that he’d ran away the night before. He felt embarrassed until the memory of that monster came back.

                “What the hell was that thing?” he asked quietly.

                “I’m surprised. Ya didn’t run away from me, today. But ya did run away yesterday… Dunno if you’re a coward or not… But then maybe that’s a normal reaction to demons, huh?”  she seemed more like she was talking to herself than him. “By the way, the name’s Beatrix, although you can call me Be for short, or captain if ya like! You should totally join my boxing club!”

                “… Demon?” he repeated her word. She had definitely said demon.

                “Hm, that’s right. Well maybe. They seem like demons don’t they? They come from some place that we think is probably hell. I’m not really one to talk to about that though. All ya need to know is that demons are real, or monsters, whatever you wanna call them. What I do is fight them, to try and stop them from killing people”

                Seriously? Edwin really couldn’t get his head round what she was saying. Hell? Were these really demons from hell?

                “I guess this is a lot to take in.” she sighed. “Come with me. I gave ya quite the beating, the least I can do is buy you something to eat on the way home”

                He was still shocked. He let her lead him by the arm. They walked in silence as questions whirled through his head about these ‘demons’. He thought about mythical creatures and angels and religions that talked about demons. When he came back to his surroundings they were in a pub. She asked him what he wanted. He couldn’t think about food at that moment. He just asked for a glass of cola. She went off and returned from the bar with just the one for him.

                “Alright” he’d decided upon his first question. “So who are ‘we’? Who helps you fight against these monsters?”

                “Hm, I’m really not sure how much I can tell ya without permission from my colleagues…. I guess I should really take you to one of them.”

                Their glasses arrived. Edwin realised how thirsty he was and started drinking.

                “Alright so what can you tell me now then?” he asked.

                She looked thoughtful for a moment.

                “Well…. Demons are real…. We have an organisation, sanctioned by the government and all, and we fight them and keep people safe… or we try to anyway.” She grimaced for a moment as if recalling a bad memory. “A human can’t fight a demon, not normally. But we made some special instruments and ways to fight them. Did ya see my wolf?”

                “Wolf?” Was she trying to confuse him more? What wolf?

                “Ah maybe you were too busy running away to see… But I was fighting that demon last night with my wolf. He’s cool. We’ve got a special bond, me and him, and he helps me fight them.” She was sounding crazier by the moment. But she didn’t look crazy. Her tone wasn’t crazy. Just the idea that she could talk so casually about the things she was talking about made her seem crazy. But this was a crazy situation. When Edwin thought back to the night before he realised he had seen a brief glimpse of something else. So that was a wolf, was it? The next important question then.

                “What’s going to happen to me now?” he asked.

                “Well. That’ll depend on my colleagues. Ya got good reflexes, maybe you could help us fight them. But then, if ya don’t want to, maybe as long as you agree not to go spreading stories, we can let you off. Maybe Seymour can make some kinda device so they won’t see you or something…”

                “Seymour?”

                “Ah… crap… That’s the name of one of my colleagues. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned him. He’s pretty smart though, always coming up with new weapons and stuff. But anyway that’ll all have to wait til tomorrow. Guess I can’t really tell you anything else…” She seemed kind of disappointed with herself.

                Tomorrow huh? Will everything come into place tomorrow? I really doubt I’ll be able to get much sleep tonight.

                “I guess I better go.” Beatrix said, getting to her feet and seeming uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Got a lot to do and all”

               

                “Wait, wait!” Edwin said, getting to his feet as well. “What’s going to happen to me tonight? Aren’t they going to come after me?”

                She laughed.

                “Don’t worry about that. I really doubt they’d come after you for no good reason. We’ll have someone keep guard over your house though, just in case” she said. Was she just saying that to make him feel better? Either way it didn’t feel like he could do much about it.

                “Tomorrow, huh?” he said out loud, not even aware the words had left his mouth.

                “Tomorrow.” She confirmed. She had a confident, reassuring look as she put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, it’ll be alright. We’ll take care of ya! And you’ll have your answers tomorrow. I’ll come find you during school.” Guess I’ll just have to wait. “Well, see ya then!” And with that she was gone. He sighed. This was all very sudden. When he went outside he realised that he had no idea where he was. It was going to take him a while to find his way home in this neighbourhood he wasn’t used to yet. It wasn’t dark yet though, and he had the sudden urge to get home before it turned dark.