Title: Mythic Voyage: Part Two. ‘Freaked.’

Author: Quew

Aubject: Follows 'Roadtrippin.' The story continues, and how will Anne deal with the information to come?

@+@+###+@+@

After I realised what had happened, I freaked out, and I mean seriously freaked out. Freaked out as in dropped Helen into a puddle and ran like the hounds of hell were on my heels. Well, I would have done, except my injured leg, damaged by the…thing…the fight with the thing, the thing and it’s…oh never mind. I was running, or at least hopping very meaningfully, away from the alley. Behind me, I could here the muted music from the club, and the sound of sharp heels on the concrete, approaching me quickly.

I tried to ignore them, but the closer they came, the more I started sweating and balling my hands into fists and I could feel my brain slowly losing control to my more primal instincts. As in slash, fight, eat, fuck, kill. Needless to say I wasn’t in the mood for polite conversation, so when I hand landed on my shoulder, I span around quickly, grabbing the arm and twisting up behind the owners' back.

‘Hey!’

‘Why are you following me?!’ I growled, and believe me, I growled. I didn’t think it was possible for a human voice to make sounds like mine was making right then. ‘Leave me alone!’

‘We…’ Helen struggled against my grasp, but I had locked my elbows and wrists, and despite her strength, I don’t think that was an easy arrangement to escape from. Finally, she stopped struggling and leaned back a little. ‘We need to talk.’ She said. Her tone didn’t suggest any kind of harm, and my instincts had released her before my conscious mind was aware of the fact.

‘No.’ I said, my voice retaining a hefty chunk of animal texture, ‘I need to go.’

I think, and I still don’t know about this, that she was surprised at how feral I was acting. ‘I was waiting for you.’ She said finally, trying to look me in the eye.

You know when you have those moments when you know you have a great poker face, that absolutely nothing of your emotion is being broadcast? Well, I was having the complete opposite. I turned on her, and I could feel my mind absolutely flying out of my eyes. She took a step back, gasping slightly.

‘I knew it.’ She whispered, searching my face with her gaze. I lifted my upper lip into a snarl, but it was as much from the pain I was suddenly registering from my leg as anything else. ‘I knew it from the moment I saw you looking at me from your car.’

Despite my complete lack of human skills at that point, that got my attention. I’d had no idea she’d actually seen me staring at her from the car that first day. Still, I was blaming her for my inclusion in the real life x-files episode, and I wasn’t about to start trusting her. Sure, I was attracted to her, but lust and trust are two completely different things, despite trying to lie to yourself otherwise.

I started walking away, aware that I wouldn’t be able to walk on my leg much longer, and I needed to be in the security of my hotel room. The adrenaline was ebbing away, leaving me feeling small and drained. My shoulders began to droop considerably, and I could feel a headache begin at the edge of my skull.

She followed me; I knew she would. I don’t know how I knew she would, but I knew. She stayed well out of sight, always at least a block away, but somehow, I knew she was there. I have to say, it annoyed me tremendously. Memories of her condescending tone during the fight flooded back, and against my better judgement I hid in an alley and waited for her to pass. I did still have some judgement left, however, meaning I was smart enough not to just jump on her when she walked by; I just coughed as she slunk past, and she stopped dead.

‘What do you want?’ I asked, my voice deep, and kinda cool if I do say so myself.

‘I need to talk to you.’ She replied.

I pushed past her and continued on my slow and painful way toward the motel. ‘I don’t need to talk to you.’ I said, shoving my hands deep inside my pockets and fumbling around for my cigarettes. When I couldn’t find them I let out a dissatisfied snort and kept walking.

‘Looking for these?’ Helen asked, drawing level with me and offering up my packet. ‘They fell out of your pocket when…you fell.’

I didn’t say thanks, but I did offer her one. She accepted, although I had thought she would refuse. She didn’t strike me as a smoker.

We lit up and it both cigarettes were well gone before either of us spoke…well, actually I made a kind of barking scream as my leg finally gave way and I was dumped on the concrete for the second…third? Forth? Oh, second sounds better – time that night. She was immediately on one knee beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

‘Your knee needs hospital treatment.’ She said quietly, her breath hitting my ear. Despite the copious amounts of pain flooding my system, I could still feel myself being reverted to a bumbling idiot at the nearness of her.

‘I…I have to…well, I should be…you know, I think I’ll head back.’ I said eventually, trying to sound as conversational as possible.

She laughed and an involuntarily shudder passed through me. She thought it was because I was in too much pain to keep still – sweet but way off the mark – and she lifted me off the concrete, supporting me on the side of my bad leg.

‘Which way to my motel?’ I asked.

Anyway, she looked at me strangely, it was either confusion or amusement. ‘I told you, that knee is only going to get worse if you don’t get it looked at.’

‘Actually, you said ‘your knee needs hospital treatment.’’ I did a passable impression of Helen, and she giggled.

‘You know, you’re kind of charming in an odd sort of way.’ She said as we limped along.

‘I know, and I am also not going to the hospital. Ever.’ I still had a feeling that something was very wrong with that hospital, even if the cookies were great, and I wasn’t going back if I still had a choice.

‘Not even if your leg falls off?’

‘Nope. I’ll just get a chair leg and stick it on there instead.’ I said it with conviction, and she was choking back giggles again. ‘I’ll be fine. I heal real quick.’ I insisted, smiling slightly; I was feeling a little woozy now, and even as the motel came into sight, my vision started to swim again. My grin became wider, and I started chuckling.

‘Shit!’ I exclaimed, my head spinning, ‘this has been one wild night!’ Exhaustion and pain were finally overriding any and all remotely normal functions I had left. ‘I mean, I came out tonight to find you! And I did, but then you were fighting that…that…that…that…’ I felt like a broken record, and I could not for the life of me get past the word that.

‘Keys?’ She asked suddenly, and I realised we were at my door.

‘That…that…that – bottom left pocket in my coat – that…that…that…’ She let us in with me still spouting that, and she positioned me on the bed as best she could. ‘That…that…that…that – hey can you see my shirt?’ I meant my sleeping shirt, and she found it under me on the bed, along with my boxers. Ok, I sleep in boxers, I admit it. But why not, I mean they’re really comfy, and plus they have all that extra room because, you know, they are made for men and all their bits and, um, pieces.

‘That…that…that – oooooooo! COOKIES!’ the thought blindsided me and I slid down off the bed and half crawled half fell to the half empty packet of choc-chip cookies I had bought earlier. Despite herself, Helen was laughing into her hands, and hey, I would too. I mean, I was carrying on like a ripe fruit. A really fruity fruit at that.

She could see my chin slowly migrating toward my chest as the night caught up with me, the remnants of alcohol, painkillers, adrenaline and exhaustion all jumbling together to turn me into an incomprehensible nut-job.

‘Do you want to put these on?’ She asked, waving the boxers, and I was slithering out of my trousers before she could help me. Thankfully I was too far gone to be embarrassed, and once I was on the bed, she stopped my slowing ode to the word that with a finger on my lips.

‘Do you know what that was?’ She asked, and I managed to fix my gaze on her, or at least one of the three of her I was seeing.

Suddenly, the answer came to me, without me really thinking about it. Yawning widely, I kept my eyes on her as I fell asleep. ‘That…that was…a vampire.’ I whispered. The last thing I heard was her gasping.

~##~

I woke early, smacking my lips. My mouth felt like some small, furry, decidedly unpleasant creature had hibernated in there all night…and from the taste possibly a lot longer without me knowing. I sat up and slung my feet…slung? Slang?…hung my feet over the edge of the bed, putting my head in my hands and trying to remember what went on last night. My memories seemed to have been replaced by a very, very vivid dream involving…what? What the hell had happened to me last night?

Suddenly, I was filled with the urge to have a huge, huge, gigantic breakfast with pancakes and bacon and coffee and eggs and – I was drooling all down my top just thinking about it, and the main thing was it was normal. No big men type things were going to try and eat me as I ate a perfectly normal, triple sized breakfast. Plus, I was absolutely starving, and I mean like not-eaten-in-a-week starving. I cast about for my clothes, and nearly fell off the bed when I found Helen asleep in a chair by the window.

Coughing down a…well, quite a girlie scream of surprise, I debated what to do. Finally, and I’m still not sure why, I got dressed silently and left her there.

The pretty waitress was there again, and I gave her my best ‘I am really worth your time’ smile as I ordered. Her face took on an incredulous air as she wrote down the amount of food I was planning on consuming, but she didn’t say anything. I took a seat as far away from the windows as I could, right in the back of the diner. When the waitress bought my food over, I managed to tear my gaze away from the sheer amount of grub to look her in the eye.

‘Hi.’ I smiled, holding out a hand. ‘I’m Anne.’

‘I’m Samantha.’ She said shyly, taking my hand and shaking it gently.

‘Nice to meet you Samantha.’ I said, ‘I’ll see you around, maybe.’ I added quickly as her supervisor peered over into the diner at us, a disapproving scowl on her features.

‘Yeah.’ She said, and then she hoofed it back over to the counter, casting glances my way.

I watched her for a moment and then stared lovingly at the food before me. I wasn’t exactly loaded with cash on my travels, so the last time I’d had a meal anything resembling what was in front of me now was when I’d worked in the kitchens of one of the clubs in L.A for a while, then splashed out on a meal that left me with indigestion for three days. I’d do it again in a second – I’ve never had such a great stomach ache.

I was on my second plate of eggs when something suggested to my consciousness that it might like to stop drooling and pay attention to it. My chewing slowed as my mind stopped slavering over the fried food and slowly returned to a less Homer-and-doughnuts mentality.

‘Do you mind if I sit down?’ Someone asked again, and I could tell from the tone of voice that they’d already asked at least once.

I waved a hand in the general direction of seats and a body slipped down into one. I managed to detach from my food fixation and looked up to see Helen sitting in front of me. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater and I blinked a few times to clear my mind. Suddenly I’d lost my appetite.

We were silent for a moment, eyeing each other up, and then she smiled wanly. ‘I never knew you were orgasmic over fried food.’ She said.

‘And I didn’t need to fake.’ I shot back, hiding my surprised look with a smirk.

She took a moment to look the assorted food over, and then pointed to a piece of toast, lying neglected on a plate. ‘May I?’

‘Go ahead. I’ll bill you later.’

She chuckled slightly, and then her face turned serious as she nibbled on the butter saturated bread. ‘We need to talk.’

‘Not here, not now.’ I said. ‘Later.’

‘Ok.’ She said slowly, reluctantly. ‘But we do need to talk.’

‘I need to get out of here. This place is fucked up.’ I said, with perhaps a little more force than I’d intended.

She didn’t answer, she just sat there watching me slowly finish my meal. Finally she said, ‘Your knee must be much better. I didn’t hear you get up this morning, and you got here ok.’

‘Yeah. I heal real fast.’

‘So you said last night.’ I didn’t question this. Truth was, I still didn’t remember much about last night. ‘But I didn’t think you’d be up and about so quickly. You hurt that knee badly last night.’

‘’s ok now.’ I said around my last mouthful of bacon.

‘It shouldn’t be.’ She shot back. ‘You damn near ruined it for life. You shouldn’t be able to walk on it at all.’

‘How would you know that?’ I asked. I decided to show her just how fine the knee was by getting up and stalking out of the diner before she could react. I threw a quick smile to Samantha and then I was outta there. My knee was fine. Well, not fine, it had been through a car crash and a fight, but she was right – I shouldn’t have been able to walk on it. I didn’t really think about then; I’ve always healed fast, always, although there was a voice in my head saying she was right. I ignored it and kept walking down the street as fast as I could without running. I was still limping a little.

‘Wait up!’ I heard her call as I continued to stride away.

Finally she caught up with me, pulling me up sharply by grabbing my elbow. ‘Hey!’ I exclaimed. ‘Let me go!’

‘No!’ She snapped back, ‘We have to talk!’

This girl was persistent! My common sense told me I would have to play along to get her off my back. ‘Ok, so talk. You’ve got five minutes.’

She looked up and down the sidewalk and then pulled me toward a park. Once we were safely ensconced in a little clearing surrounded by trees, she sighed. ‘I need your help.’ I snorted in disbelief but caught my sneer before it crossed my face. ‘Believe it or not.’ She added, as if reading my mind.

‘Ok.’ It was my turn to talk slowly, cautiously. ‘Why?’

‘Why did you decide to come here?’ She said, looking at me thoughtfully.

The sudden change of tack caught me off guard. ‘What?’

‘You travel, right? Why’d you decide to come here?’

I shrugged. I didn’t know why, and I was fervently wishing I’d never driven there in the first place. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You were sent for.’ She said, acting as if now she’d said that, the whole world made sense. To me, it made about as much sense as a talking tree.

‘I was sent for…What? You are going to have to do better than that.’

‘I’m serious-’

‘So am I! You’re trying to explain what’s going on, and that’s the best you can do? I was sent for, like I’m…’ My mouth made a little o shape and my eyes weren’t far behind. ‘No…’ I breathed …‘No way.’

‘Yup.’

‘No way…but they don’t exist! It’s...it’s…it’s not real!’

‘Are vampires real?’ She asked me innocently.

‘This is some sort of elaborate plot to screw me over, isn’t it!’ I yelled, advancing a step.

‘No.’ She said it quietly, and there was no doubt she believed it. But did I?

I felt memories of last night returning, followed by stabs of fear, followed by panic, followed by the feeling that I could piss my pants and pass out at any moment. Before I knew it I was sprawled across the grass, my eyes huge and my mouth working soundlessly.

My eyes turned to Helen as she sat down next to me. ‘So you believe me now?’ She asked.

I didn’t want too, I seriously did not want to believe. I was Dana to her Fox. Yet something made me nod. I did. Somehow I knew what she was saying was the truth. ‘So…you’re…we’re…you’re…I’m. Not me, surely? Why me? They’ve made a mistake…’ Sure I believed her, didn’t mean I had to believe it was supposed to happen to me.

‘No mistake, it’s-’

‘Destiny…’ I finished for her, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand. As I lowered the hand, she caught it and looked at me with a sincere gaze.

‘I’ll help you. We’ll get through this together, ok?’ I nodded mutely. ‘You’re not alone. But you are a-’ I silenced her with a wave of my hand.

‘Don’t say it. Don’t say that word, ok? This is too freaky. Too fucked up. I mean, for fucks sake, it’s a goddamn television programme!’

‘Where do you think he got the idea to make it in the first place? He used to live here, you know.’ She gave me a knowing look and I looked back with an open mouth.

‘No way!’

I looked at her and she giggled. ‘So, what are you thinking?’ She asked quietly after a moment of silence.

‘That this is all too weird.’ I sighed, leaning back on the grass and putting a hand behind my head. After a moment a thought struck me and I sat up. ‘Why – and this doesn’t mean I agree with you – would I have been called anyway? Hypothetically speaking, isn’t there supposed to be only one?’

She smiled slightly at my seriousness and then her face fell a little. There was a pause, and then she asked. ‘Do you ever watch the show?’

‘Once or twice.’ Actually, I watched every episode, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to say.

‘You ever see the story-line where she gets drowned in the underground church?’

I thought for a moment and then it came back to me. ‘Yeah.’

‘Well…’ She stopped to think how to phrase her sentence but I broke in before she could finish.

‘That actually happened?!’ I felt swamped by compassion and without thinking I slipped an arm around her slim shoulders. She leaned into the crook of my arm and I said softly, ‘I’m sorry.’

‘What for?’

‘I don’t know.’ I said truthfully. ‘I just don’t like the thought of that actually happening to you. Or anyone.’ I added, perhaps a little too quickly.

I think maybe she smiled, but she continued. ‘So, another one was called.’

‘Was she…um…I mean…’ I caught myself before I actually asked her if the next girl had been killed.

Helen, however, knew where I was heading. ‘No. There was only her and I, another wasn’t called until now. Until you.’

I felt terrible for doing it, but I had to ask. ‘What happened to her?’

Helen went cold in my arms. ‘She…couldn’t handle it. Something happened and she went crazy.’ She said stiffly. I can honestly say that sentence did not fill me with confidence.

‘But she didn’t die?’

‘No…the way the-’ she realised I didn’t like the S word ‘-we are called is different in real life. A Slayer doesn’t have to die, just be incapacetated enough not to be able to do the job.’

‘Did you get on well with her?’

‘I…we…yes. I did.’

Her tone told me something was up with the direction the conversation was headed, so I changed the subject. ‘Sooooo…’ I let out a long breath of air. ‘If there was you, then her, guess who that makes me? Does this town have a Mayor?’

The stress in her shoulders deflated a little as she smiled. ‘Yeah, but we don’t see much of him. He’s like, eighty something.’

‘That’s a shame. I would have liked a new apartment.’ I sighed in mock resignation.

She shifted in my arms and looked up at me. ‘You know, you kind of look like her. Does that mean you can dance as well as her?’ She asked, a spark of something showing in her eyes.

I winked, ‘You know, you kind of look like Buffy, does that mean you whine as much as her?’

That was it. She sensed I was slowly accepting what I’d been told and she continued to monitor my expression as she said. ‘So, F, when do you want to start training?’

Training. Woah, that bought it home that it was real. I stiffened and she noticed my sour look. ‘I don’t know B. Why don’t you suggest a time and place, and if I show, then we’ll train.’ God, I was even starting to talk like her.

She knew that was probably the best she’d get. ‘There’s an all night gym on the other side of town. If you come over at about eight, we’ll train and I’ll explain more about why you were called.’

I nodded and got up slowly reluctant to leave even though I wasn’t sure where I stood with her.

~##~

Six O’clock: Lying flat on my back on my motel bed, staring at the dingy ceiling. I wasn’t thinking anything in particular, just lying there. My eyes were open, I was pretty sure of that, but I wasn’t really seeing the creamy coloured ceiling in front of me. I wasn’t hungry, despite the fact I hadn’t eaten since that morning.

Seven O’clock: I had the T.V on, trying to retain some sense that my day was normal. Some banal sitcom was on, I forget which one. It was the same as all the others, and I don’t remember laughing once. I suddenly had to fight down the urge to grab my clothes and car keys and get the fuck out of Dodge as quickly as possible. I felt like I was a bad horror movie or something. Which character would I be? The unwitting hero? Not me, more likely the cowardly deserter who gets killed in some horrible and totally deserving fashion. My body was suddenly my most important asset, and I spent a good ten minutes apologising to myself for all the injuries I’d caused myself over the years. Maybe I’d live up to the name of the Slayer whom I would be "playing" in this bad horror movie of ours. Maybe it’d be too much and I’d go mad with the pressure. Maybe.

Quarter to eight found me driving aimlessly round the town. I reached the limits and stopped, parking on the edge of the road and staring at the sign. It read "Welcome To Sunvale! Enjoy your stay and please drive carefully." For some reason it made me mad, really mad, and I whacked my car into gear and did a doughnut in the middle of the road just to spite the smiling, cheerful female face that looked down upon me from that damn sign. I meant to turn around and drive right outta town, get the hell away from all the madness and everything else, but instead I found myself speeding through the town.

Wrong direction! A voice in my head screamed. It’s the wrong fucking direction!

‘Fuck off.’ I growled at myself.

~##~

‘I started thinking maybe you weren’t going to show.’ Helen smiled as I wandered into the gym.

‘So was I.’ I said quietly. I didn’t really look around at our surroundings: one gym is pretty much like another to me. I glanced at her quickly – she was wearing Adidas trousers and a white vest, and I was wearing black cotton pants and a black vest. It was the only outfit I had that was remotely gym worthy.

‘So…how do you want me?’

‘What?!’ That broke me out of my funk, and I stared at her with wide eyes.

When she realised what she’d said, she laughed. ‘I meant, would you like to start on the machines or spar on the mats?’

‘Oh, yeah, right.’ I turned away a little to hide my blush, ‘the second one.’

‘Right, they’re over here.’ She led me across the gym and we approached the mats. They were in the middle of the gym, the various machines on the outside. ‘Have you been in lots of fights?’ She asked as we walked to the centre of the blue square.

‘One or two. Not all that many.’ I answered truthfully.

‘Ok, we’ll start off slow then.’ She said, squaring off to me.

I nodded – I saw her deck that vamp, and I sure as hell didn’t want to start off fast. I put up my fists and took a wide stance. She had one fist high, one low while I had one tucked by my side, the other one angled across my body. I started wishing I paid more attention in my karate classes when I was younger – what can I say? My dad made me do it, I wanted to play baseball.

Before I really knew what was happening she’d aimed a punch at my head. I blocked it as quickly as I could a waited for the next. The next one turned out to be a roundhouse kick again aimed at my head. I ducked and before I knew what I was doing I’d retaliated with a kick to her side. She hopped out of the way and lifted her leg, spinning confidently and I only just managed to raise my arm to stop her foot lodging in my ear. It made me stumble though, and she leapt forward, tripping me before I could do anything about it. When the dust had settled it became apparent she had won our little match, and it had taken her less than thirty seconds. We were lying lengthways with her on top, and her delicate elbow was poised to ram itself into my jugular. I was breathing hard but she hadn’t even broken a sweat.

I looked up and she was looking down at me, our faces inches apart. A strand of her blonde hair had escaped her ponytail and was tickling my cheek. I blew it away and she smiled at me for a moment as it swung back and started tickling my nose.

Then one of the bozos on the machines yelled, ‘get a room!’ and another whistled, and the moment was broken. She helped me up and then brushed herself down.

‘You weren’t even trying.’ She accused gently.

‘I wasn’t trying?! It’s not my fault I’m not experienced or whatever.’ I said, it sounding more bitter than I had intended.

‘No. But it’s like you don’t even want to try.’ She said quietly, and I looked at the floor; I knew she was right. Trying meant that I was accepting, really accepting what she’d told me. For all I knew she could

be some crazy bitch who got off on this sort of thing. I had known her for what? Two, three days?

‘How do I know you’re telling the truth?’ I said, following through on my thought.

I got the impression she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes as she sighed and looked at me. ‘You don’t. But you know I am, deep down you can feel it. If that’s not enough, how do explain last night?’

‘My drink was spiked.’

‘That’s nonsense.’ She snorted, walking back out on to the mats. ‘Now are you going to try or not?’

‘It’s not nonsense.’ I said, feeling hurt and more than a little annoyed. ‘It’s happened to me before.’

‘Look.’ She fixed with a piercing glare when I looked up. ‘You know I’m right. But if you’re too scared, or too irresponsible, or whatever, to believe what I’ve told you, that’s your problem. And I think it makes you a coward, and a selfish one at that.’

‘Excuse me? What?’ I’ll be the first one to say I’m pretty easy going, but I have to admit name calling gets to me a little. Okay, a lot. ‘Did you just call me a coward?’

‘It’s obvious, isn’t it?’ She said, beginning to do stretching exercises on the mat and speaking from under her arm, which for some reason infuriated me even more. ‘You’ve been given a divine opportunity to do some real good, and you are too scared to take it. You’re too scared to even try and win against me, how are you going to tip the balance between good and evil?’

‘Well, if I don’t have a choice, I’m going to start by doing it as far away from you as possible.’ I snapped, my eyes narrowed and I could feel my shoulders tensing and relaxing.

‘Just like Faith.’ She said, disgust lacing her tone. ‘She always ran away too.’

She turned her back and continued to stretch, but I didn’t notice. I was seeing red from eyelid to eyelid, my temper seriously getting the best of me. She could have defeated seven Roman legions in front of me single-handedly last night, and I still would have done what I did next. While she had her back turned, I rolled my shoulders to loosen them and started walking toward her like they had taught me I my classes. When I was close enough, I lashed out, hitting her square in the small of the back with my foot with as much strength as I could muster.

Apparently, it was quite a lot. She flew right off the mat and smacked into the far wall. I could see she was alright because she sat up, but she kept her head turned, and I had every intention of stalking over there and picking her up and throwing her right into the next wall. As I got there and bent down to grab her, her arms lashed out. One smacked into the side of my leg, the other sank into the flesh of my belly, propelling me across fully half off the mat square. Apparently she was not weak either; anyone else and that punch would have just doubled me over.

I ended up flat on my back and I kipped upright, which would have amazed me had I not been too angry to think. I was never able to kip in class (kipping is where you flip onto your feet from lying horizontally). This time, however, I did it without thinking. She was already coming toward me, blonde hair whipping around her face and the set of her shoulders told me that we were not going to go slow this time.

She threw a punch so quick that I didn’t see it and it smacked me in the shoulder, and I’m sure I felt it leave a dent. I got even more angry – something I didn’t think was possible – and angled myself more sideways toward her, giving her a smaller front target. I unleashed a left-right-left kick combo, followed by a direct punch to the face. She dodged the kicks but the punch seemed to take her by surprise. It clipped her, splitting the skin of her lower lip.

It seemed to me she went to new levels of anger then, forcing me along for the ride. She showered my with punches, and after a few seconds –although it seemed a lot longer – I could no longer distinguish where each one was hitting me, or which direction they came from. My world consisted of bone-jarringly hard punches and blonde hair flying in and out of my vision. Finally, as I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, I got my second wind, and the next one I saw coming was blocked and I lashed out in the most uncoordinated manner, throwing fists, feet and even the occasional head butt into the mix. She slowly began to back off as the longer I did it, the more co-ordinated I became, until I was doing what she had done to me moments before, although with not quite as much skill.

It was enough, however, to get her off my back. I kept going and going, and I reached a point where I knew I couldn’t physically move any faster. I was wrong. She sensed that I had reached some kind of impasse and she started retaliating again, and I realised she had just been toying with me, or at least that’s what it seemed like. Soon, we were moving it a kind of deadly rhythm – block, strike, block, pause, strike, strike. I felt a moment where my limbs felt like they were moving through treacle, and then I was free. I pushed myself further and my limbs became a blur, even to me.

I felt another feeling pass through me and then she was moving as fast as I was. I caught a glimpse of us in one of the mirrored walls, and for a moment my concentration faltered. She took advantage of that and I felt her knuckles connect with my cheek. Before I could process what had happened my head had whipped around ninety degrees and the rest of my body was not far behind. I did a neat little pirouette and smacked face first into the mat.

After the sounds of moving bodies; fists and feet hitting flesh, the silence was deafening. I was having trouble breathing and my vision swirled blue and white. I started coming back down to earth when I heard a guys voice say, ‘Jesus H Christ kid, what did you do to her?! What have you two been taking?!’ I saw blurred feet move into my vision and felt someone bend down to pick me up.

‘She’s fine.’ Helen said, her voice tightly controlled as she slowed down her breathing.

The movement stopped. ‘Are you kidding?! Look, I don’t know what you kids have been taking, but I’m not having any of it in here. Get out!’

I felt life returning to me limbs and I pushed myself off the mat. Slowly, painfully and certainly unwillingly, I left the comfort of the mats to stand unsteadily on my feet. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth and wasn’t surprised to see blood. Glancing down at where I’d been lying I saw a good sized pool of the red stuff soaking into the expensive gym mat.

‘Are you ok, Miss?’ The burly gym worker asked gently, his hand hovering near my elbow.

I had enough wits about me to smile at him slightly. ‘Yes, thank you.’ Then my expression hardened and I turned to Helen. I stared at her for a good while, and even her impassive demeanour began to crack under my harsh stare. Then I limped out without saying goodbye. This time I was leaving for good.