Supernova

Chapter Sixteen - Pins and Needles (and Demon)

Unlike in New York, I made a friend on my very first day. Two, actually. I'd gone down to the gyms, looked at the extensive map, and settled on one of the most traditional. That way, I could do what I was most familiar with and dedicate most of my energy towards people watching and deciding who would fill the empty half of my room. The description told me that was largely a weight room, barbells and kettlebells and machines, as well as a wrestling mat, a corner for target practice, high jump, all surrounded by two ten lane tracks, one on the same level, and one suspended above us that could be accessed by a gorgeous glass staircase.

I could hear the chatter before I'd even slid open the large metal barn door open, which is how I knew that it became near silent when I entered. People were eyeing me much the same way as before, if not hungrier, without the headmistress by my side, and I enjoyed it. I could hear my name, my dad's name, and some of my more publicized accomplishments, including my time at the Invincible Stronghold Training Agency and the Concrete Heart Jungle in the whispers that were being exchanged. As I'd somewhat noticed, but was now much more apparent, most of the students in here were working in either pairs or even numbered groups.

I turned to close the door behind me, and I heard heavy footsteps approaching my back. This didn't bother me any. I was used to being an attempted murder or hazing victim at least twice a week from my time in New York, and I even spent a few seconds longer closing the door because I was so curious at to what was about to happen. When I turned back around, I saw a bright red sternum and abdomen, trickled with small dotted scars, at my face level. A large black hand then came towards me, clasped itself around my throat and the lower half of my face, and lifted me up to their eye level.

Because I could still breathe, this bothered me little, and I took my opportunity to size him up. His chin and neck were just as red as his bare chest and abdomen, but the upper half of his face, including his eyes and the horns protruding from his forehead were as black as his hands. There was also a smoke wafting gently off his head and shoulders. When he smiled at me, his fangs were visible, as well as his forked tongue. I wanted him immediately. In my bed and my room.

"Hey there, Princess Amerinvincible," he told me, in a voice so smooth it nearly destroyed me. "I've heard an awful lot about you."

His hand was still clasped over my mouth, but speaking was the only thing he was preventing me from doing. I let my arms and legs continue to hang in the air, leaving my density at baseline, as I looked him up and down.

"Don't get any ideas," he laughed. "I'm nobody's sidekick."

And then he slid his fingers off my mouth, keeping me suspended in the air. "Neither am I."

"What I've heard is true, I see," he said with a smirk. "They call me Demon."

"Cassie Stronghold."

He then lifted me higher, twisted me around, and dropped me onto his shoulders. I wasn't sure what to make of this, but I was amused. "You're with us."

He took me over to the knife throwing area. It had a number of tracks, with targets at the end, pairs of students at nearly every one, fixing each others stance or watching diligently. At the very end, there was a little white haired boy, skin nearly the same colour, his eyes a pale gold and focused on us.

"I brought our new friend," Demon told him, grabbing me back around the neck and head and placing me on the floor next to this boy. He was a bit shorter than I was.

"I'm Cass," I told him. The boy gave me a nod, but he didn't say anything.

"This is Needles," Demon told me. "My sidekick."

"Needles?" I asked them both, peering at the boy. His golden eyes flared a little in their irises.

"Show her," Demon told him.

Needles raised a hand with his palm facing himself, showing me his knobby golden knuckles. I stepped forward to look closer, but he pulled his hand back towards himself. I stood and watched. With his free hand, he pulled on one of the golden knuckles, which slid off his hand, bringing with it a long sharp portion the length of my hand. He handed it over to me, and I took it. By the time I had it, the missing knuckle had been replaced.

"Aren't these more like pins?" I asked them. The boy's golden eyes flared wildly at that comment.

"Pins and Needles," Demon told me, shrugging and smirking.

I turned the pin over in my hand. I had no way of telling how heavy it was, but when I flicked it, it seemed solid. I stuck the end against my palm a few times, and my skin didn't give way underneath it. I then ran it down my tongue, which amused Demon deeply, but that didn't do anything either.

"Is it poison or something?" I asked Needles. He shook his head. "So, it's just a pin."

Demon motioned for me to hand it over, so I did. He held it a few inches above his own palm, sharp side down, and dropped it. It slid through his palm, the golden top landing in his black hand, as if it had been falling right through the air. That must be where the small dotted scars on his body had come from, I thought to myself. Interesting. A drop of blood fell down the sharp end and onto the floor, so dark it was almost black. He held his other hand out to me, and his eyes glanced down at it, motioning for me to take it.

I dug a dense fingernail into his palm, which was normally was a fairly effective weapon, but his skin struggled a lot more than regular skin. Eventually, it broke the skin and blood began to pool a little in his hand. It was most certainly black, or at the very least, darker than red. He wiped it on my face as he cackled and wiggled his forked tongue.

"That's incredible," I told Needles, wiping my arm across my face. He smiled at me a little. I turned to Demon. "Can he talk?"

"He can talk alright," Demon said, winking at me. "He's loud when he wants to be."

I laughed, looking back and forth between the two of them, trying to picture it. Needles shook his head, his face tinting pink, and turned back to the target at the end of his lane. I noticed it was full of his golden pins, all at the center, the outer rings completely pristine. Demon took a seat on a nearby chair and patted his lap. I sat.

"You run cold, just like I knew you would," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling his face into my neck. I'd heard that before. That I was cold to the touch. I could always tell which boys had quirks that made them run hot because they were a lot touchier.

"Do all the pairs here fuck?" I asked him, looking around. There was an awful lot of hand holding, hands rested on lower backs, cheek, mouth, and neck kisses.

"Not all, but more do than don't," he laughed. When I looked over my shoulder at him, he was biting me and looking down at the lack of bite marks. He winked at me again when I noticed. "Everybody swaps though. Gotta learn from as many cells as possible, you know?"

Needles plucked a handful of his pins out of his knuckles and handed them out to me. I took them, but I was unsure what he expected. He looked at the target. I took the spot where he'd been standing and looked back towards them. Needles had taken my spot on Demon's lap too.

"You gotta learn if you're going to be working with us," Demon said, motioning his hand towards the target.

"I'll hit all five of these dead center first try," I scoffed, shaking the hand holding the pins. "And who said we'll be working together?"

"I did. I've already decided," he said solidly, smiling back at me. "Don't get cocky just because you've played a bit of darts, Princess."

"Wanna bet?" I lifted my chin.

"If you miss dead center even once, you and whoever your sidekick is works with us," Demon said, lifting his chin back at me, and placing a finger under Needles' chin to lift it as well. "Your stats are delicious. I need you on our team."

"If I make all five, which I will, I work with you as much as I feel like it," I told him, fluttering one of the pins between my fingers on my free hand. I looked back up at Demon. "And you fuck me."

"You're not my regular flavor, girlie."

"I'll change your mind," I told him. "I like a challenge."

Demon laughed, the kind that made him throw his head back. "You're on."

I landed all five dead center. It was not difficult.