Love, Basketball and Demons

Chapter 16: Out of Control

The basketball court vibrated with the intensity of a high-stakes game, sweat and adrenaline filling the air. Zack's muscles tensed as he got knocked down by a player from the University of Ottawa, the ref refusing to call the foul. His vision blurred and anger bubbled within him, he could feel his powers shifting inside him. Zack shook it off and charged forward, easily tearing the ball away from the opposing players and heading back toward their net.

Zack's senses were on high alert, and he could feel someone coming up from behind him. He just made it to the key and lined up his shot, when an Ottawa player grabbed the ball. Without thinking Zack used his enhanced strength to pull the ball free and in his fury, Zack's arm swung wide, catching Kristian in the face and leaving him with a bloody nose.

"Zack!" the coach bellowed, motioning for him to sit on the bench. Zack complied, his chest heaving with labored breaths as he tried to suppress the demon clawing at him. Rob sat down beside him, concern etched across his face.

"Man, what's gotten into you?" Rob asked. "You've never been this aggressive before. You need to get a grip before someone else gets hurt or worse."

"I can do this on my own!" Zack clenched his fists, trying to rein in his demonic side. His heart ached at the memory of his breakup with Deb, and the guilt from kissing Leona when she was dating Boon. The buzzer rang and he searched the crowd for a distraction and noticed Boon talking to Leona. As the quarter ended, Boon pointed to the smudged lipstick on her lips, asking how it happened.

"Oh this," she took out a small compact mirror to check for herself "Must have smudged it on my drink." she motioned to her generic soda cup, Boon seemed to buy this explanation.

Rob, who had been listening in too, shot a suspicious glance at Zack. "You were late to warm up because you were outside with Leona, weren't you? Did you kiss her?"

Zack hesitated before admitting the truth. "Yes, I did." Rob's eyes flashed with anger, accusing Zack of self-sabotage.

"Zack, what the hell are you doing?" Rob scolded "Is this what you call handling it? I get the whole being sad after a breakup, but this is stupid on a whole other level." Rob accused him and Zack just listened, he knew he deserved it.

--

Meanwhile, Deb had decided to skip the game. Instead, she found herself learning self-defense from Abby, the stun gun in her hand feeling like an odd weight. "And you are sure I need this?" Deb hesitated.

"You are a young single woman now," Abby explained as she adjusted Deb's stance, "You need to be able to protect yourself from any predators out there."

Deb considered Abby's words, still unsure if she would be able to actually use the weapon on anyone. " I guess you're right, This is just heavier than what I am used to."

"Well, I didn't think you wanted to end your attacker's life, which would likely happen if you used those knives of yours." Abby's voice sounded joking, but her eyes seemed almost excited by the thought of Deb taking someone out with her knives.

"Oh no, I could never actually use my knives on another person," Deb responded but her mind wandered back to the night she believed Ethel stalked them through the business school and she questioned herself. " I mean I don't think I could."

Abby quickly picked up on Deb's hesitation, "You thinking about what you would have done if you had had your knives on Halloween?" Abby placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Honestly I don't even fully understand what happened that night," Deb looked straight ahead and lowered the stun gun, "Ethel has always been weird, but a killer? I don't get it. Besides I Have seen Boon, Zack, and Rob hanging around her a few times, so why would she turn on them just out of the blue? I want to believe Zack but..."