Tiffany Becker stood at the end of the bland white corridor beside Robert Hoffman. Far too close for my liking. Robert rested his head against Tiffany''s chest and she held him gently. Both appreciated how close they were together.
I watched on feeling both confused and disgusted. I turned my gaze towards the corridor floor and saw something which left me unable to breathe.
Teenagers in ruined blue overalls, all familiar faces, were dead and bleeding on the ground. Among these teenagers were large were-cat beasts riddled with bullet holes.
The one nearest me was Holly. Half in her were-cat form, half-human; her big yellow left eye was gazed lifelessly up at me.
My eyes snapped open.
"Burgess, what''s wrong?" said Xandra.
Just a nightmare, I thought.
Finding my first breath after waking proved difficult. The more I tried, the more the air was trapped inside my chest refusing to come out.
"It''s okay," she said, "Just breathe."
I can''t, I thought.
Then, finally, my lungs relented. I breathed fitfully whilst the horrible dread which had been as thick as the fountains of blood in the nightmare stayed with me even after waking.
Finally, I let out a sigh.
It was morning, not quite light outside yet, and Xandra was crouched in front of me with a worried look on her face.
She held a rugby ball.
The dread eased just a little.
I looked around the same rugby clubhouse hall Xandra and I had chosen to stay the night.
"You fell asleep watching the movie," said Xandra, "I didn''t want to wake you. I slept in the locker room."
I nodded. As much as the dread was easing off just a little it was replaced by worries about what the day would bring. We were still fugitives on the run, still powered and aimless. What future did we have now that the entire country, perhaps even the whole world, considered us dangerous freaks? How could I return home to my family if this was the state of my life now?
"So," said Xandra, in a playful tone, "I found this ball and I was thinking we could throw it around. What do you think?"
"I don''t know," I mumbled, wiping the sleep out of my eyes, "Shouldn''t we get going?"
"Five minutes won''t hurt, right?" said Xandra.
I sighed, "Sure," I said, "I guess not."
It was cold outside on the rugby pitch. A thin layer of mist hung over the grass.
Xandra jogged onto the pitch and I had to force myself into a jog to keep up.
Xandra turned about and threw the rugby ball at me. It was a normal throw that was on the lighter side and not particularly precise.
I caught the ball clumsily, my numb fingers found the stiffness of the ball harsh in the morning chill.
I threw the ball back. Like Xandra my throw wasn''t anything special and was actually off-target.
Xandra reached low for it, missed, and had to go jogging over to get it. The rugby ball bounced funny upon landing, making Xandra look like she was chasing a chicken in pursuit of it.
"What are we doing?" I mumbled, "Shouldn''t we just go back in and leave before somebody turns up?"
Xandra picked up the rugby ball and seemed to ignore my question.
"Okay," she said, smiling, "How far do you think you can throw?"
"With or without powers?" I said.
"With, obviously," said Xandra.
I shrugged, "No idea, pretty far, I guess."
"Okay," said Xandra, "I bet I can catch whatever you throw."
She threw the ball back at me and this time it had some power behind it. I wasn''t coiled up at all so the ball hit my chest with a hard enough thud to make me grunt a little in pain. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"I''ve had enough bets for a while," I said.
I forced a smile, making an effort to rise above the dread that hung around like a monkey on my back.
Coil-up, I thought, asking the power to give me the strength I needed.
With more finesse than usual my body''s muscles swelled to a larger size, giving me an athlete''s body in an instant.
Xandra put her hands to her side and then I saw her body also grow in muscle, enough to be noticeable in the black long-sleeved t-shirt (with a cartoon mouse on the chest) and the black denim jeans she wore. It still filled me with a sense of awe to see someone else transforming, even in a small way.
I threw the ball as hard as I could. It sailed into the air like a missile, becoming a blur. Xandra''s keen eyes locked onto it and she broke into a powerful sprint. Her legs became something of a cartoonish blur as she sprinted after the ball.
"Woah," I muttered, both at my own throw and Xandra''s speed.
The ball continued to sail through the cloudy sky.
"No way she''s going to catch it," I muttered.
The ball was close to the other end of the pitch. Xandra was a good distance off reaching it. But then she hurled herself forwards, diving and catching the ball. She landed hard on the grass, sliding for a moment before she sprang up again, much muddier for the effort.
"Good job!" I shouted.
Xandra threw the ball back, the speed and power of the throw matching mine. All at once I had to increase my vision potential, as well as my reaction time; this didn''t slow down the ball but I was much more aware of its position in the sky in relation to where I was on the ground.
I broke into a sprint, moving at an incredible speed. Despite all this I had still managed to misjudge my position. I wasn''t going to make the catch.
I would have to jump.
It took me a fraction of a second to remember what it had been like to bulk up my legs back in the petrol station, and what it had been like to run and jump at intervals for hours.
My jeans, which were already ripped a bit at the thighs, were yet again stretched beyond their limit, needing to make room for all of the new muscle.
I jumped, springing into the air with a power and deftness that left me utterly stunned. I caught the ball and planeted my feet nimbly down onto the mildewy grass.
"Woo!" Xandra cheered in the distance.
She sprinted back and made a small jump of her own at the last stretch, landing in front of me. She was beaming with excitement.
"Great catch!" she said, "Burgess! Sprints like a fox! Jumps like a frog!"
"How does a fox sprint, exactly?" I said, grinning, twirling the ball around some more.
"Oh, you know," said Xandra, "Low to the ground, scampering."
"Ah," I said, playfully, "Scampering, that''s what every guy wants to hear his running form is like."
Xandra started to giggle.
"What?" I said.
She gestured to my legs, "You look like a chicken! Look at those drumsticks!"
Xandra''s giggle became gut-wrenching laughter to the point she could hardly breathe. At first I shot her an amused, but also an unimpressed look, which only made her laugh even more. Her laughter was infectious enough to make me start laughing too. Very quickly we were both laughing so hard it hurt.
When we were done laughing I felt a lot better than I had done upon waking.
We threw around the ball some more; Xandra jumped pretty high to catch my throws, but she was reluctant to give herself the same drumstick legs as me to reach the heights I could.
To compensate she used her power to make herself taller, giving herself several inches in height, standing taller than my normal self by about two inches.
I considered making myself taller but there was something about doing it that just didn''t appeal to me; I was wearing clothes that fit just fine so there wasn''t the need to grow into them to compensate like before.
We quickly lost track of time throwing the ball around. Since we were both coiled up neither of us felt the natural tiredness that would come about from throwing, diving, laughing, sprinting, and jumping.
We didn''t even care when it started to rain thick and heavy. If anything it made throwing the rugby ball even more fun.
When it truly started to chuck down rain Xandra, giggling, started to enjoy not throwing the ball to me anymore and keeping it all to herself instead. Naturally, I chased her to get it. She sprinted this way and that, deftly staying one step ahead of my lunges to grab her. Caked in mud and laughing, she led a merry chase around the pitch. Several times we both slipped, getting even muddier, forcing us to wipe huge wads of mud from our faces.
Xandra kicked the ball ahead of her; it bounced perfectly in such a way to come straight into her arms.
She didn''t have me in her sights this time so I jumped with all the power in my legs I could manage.
She turned, looking for me.
It was only when she looked up that she saw me leaping overhead. She must have been so impressed by the sudden athletic display that she hardly put up a fight when I snatched the rugby ball from her grip.
More rain bucketed down on us. It didn''t matter how cold or wet it was because I never had as much fun playing sports.
Xandra swiped for the ball but I held onto it tightly. We wrestled, our powerful hands and arms yanking the ball backwards and forwards in a superhuman tug of war.
We both screamed in unison, losing our footing, and we fell over onto the grass. The ball, under the pressure of our grips, exploded.
We fell onto our sides, splashing up yet more rainwater and mud.
Xandra''s large eyes met mine and it was then I felt a very strange sensation in my chest. Sort of like a weakness.
We both came to our senses a moment later, getting up and paying particular attention to our own muddiness.
"I better take a shower," I said over the sound of the rain.
"Sure," said Xandra, "You go first."
I didn''t need telling twice. I ran back towards the clubhouse. The unease in my chest wasn''t going away.
Great, I thought, one more thing to worry about.