Lonely Monsters

eight

I was staring up at the sky, vast blackness with white sprinklings of stars that were light years away.  Somewhere far, thick nimbus clouds hovered over me. I tasted copper in the air and wondered what factory was functioning at this time of night. 

"...They're all abandoned." I slurred, panting. The clouds were really the steam I gave off as I breathed. The metal I tasted was the blood that coming from a split in my lip. I pulled myself up, slouching and bending over to hold my knees as the world spun. I dripped spit and blood as black as oil onto the snow. 

"What..." I wiped my mouth, feeling it smear over my lips and chin. "What the fuck!"

Usha slid something out her pockets and began wrapping her hands. My brain thought of Keenan who boxed three days a week during the summer. My brother tried to teach me some moves, but they weren't for starting a fight. They were for defense, and flight. I pelt my coat for my keys, but spotted them feet away. I crouched, running towards them to use them as a weapon. 

Usha intercepted, grabbing my hair and launching me over her back with the momentum I started. I hit the ground but slid a few feet because of the ice. I looked back at her, and found she held my coat.  She tossed it to the ground some distant away from us. I looked at her feet and saw she was wearing boots that had cleated soles. 

I rolled over, and scurried to get distance between us. Everything was flat aside from the spots I had fallen. There was nothing to use as a weapon, and everything to slip and slide on. The thin, string knit gloves I wore were shredded, my claws ruining the finger tips. Earlier that very day, I had sworn I had cut, filed and painted them, now they were as black and sharp as the first day I saw them.

I saw movement from the corner of my eye and kicked the ground to throw myself back. Where I had been Usha's heel had smashed into the icy ground. She bent down, twisted her hips and her knee collided with my stomach. The air was rushed out of me as I was sent sprawling. I hit my head twice and felt my knees scrape on course ice that was mixed with sand. 

Liquid and solids came up, sour and burning the back of my throat and nose. It came up black and viscous, smelling vile and rancid. 

"What are you doing!" I shouted, crouched on my hands and knees. 

"Taking care of what Ravis didn't have the heart to do." The woman stood up to her full height, and I was once again reminded of Princess Diana of Paradise Island. All she needed was the tiara and manacles. "Things like you, that don't die within the first 24 hours, are liabilities."

She stretched her arms above her head, popping her joints loudly. I tried to move from my crouch, but any movement had me nauseous. I coughed until I felt empty, and stared at the puddle that had very quickly melted a well in the icy ground. 

I turned my gaze on her, squinting in the darkness to focus on her form. Usha ran  at me, going in for another kick. I pushed myself to the side, rolling off the beach area and onto the water that was frozen solid. It was feet thick since we were in the shallows, and would be that way all the way across the river. This winter was hell for pretty much everyone on the east coast. 

I pulled myself up, spitting on the ground and holding my stomach. "What happened to the contract." I said, my voice hoarse.  

"Contracts between a Dusk and a Hunter mean nothing to me." The eyes on her cheeks opened wide, deep blue irises encircling dark catlike pupils. The sound of my blood was roaring in my ears, crashing about like waved slamming on rocks. My head was pulsing from the multiple hits it had taken and my mouth felt raw from the blood and vomit. 

My vision blurred and every move Usha made made my world spin more. She was so tall at this moment. Her arm drew back and she punched me in the shoulder. The hit felt small but I was sprawling over ice once more.