Sacred Nights | Jamie Tartt

I Feel Better Now

The coaches stood talking quietly in the front corner of the media room. They were worried about the team, who were down in the dumps over their match with Liverpool that was happening tomorrow. They hadn't won a match against them in eons, and it looked like not a single one of them had an ounce of hope.

However, the coaches weren't as worried about that sad fact as they were about the tornado that was making its way down the hallway.

They had tried to rally the financial department into finding someone else to talk to the team, but they had all claimed that their hands were tied. Not even Beard could sway them, and he is a very convincing man. But, maybe they were wrong to do that. Maybe, Ted hoped, maybe this would work out fine.

The room suddenly dropped several degrees and the team all looked around in alarm. All except for their captain, who simply looked at the ground and refused to make eye contact.

The door creaked open slowly, the sound reverberating throughout the room. Dani whimpered and brought his knees to his chest.

A hooded figure stepped in, wearing all black and taking slow strides towards the front of the room. It nodded at the coaches before turning to address the room.

The players quivered in fear as Lilith took her hood down, staring them each right in their eyes, "As with every away match, the financial department asks that you please refrain from making excess charges to your room. We remind you to leave all furniture where it is in the hotel. If there are any problems with the final payments for your rooms we will require you to come down to the offices to go over the charges with one of our advisors." The room was painfully silent. The coaches stared on in horror as Lilith droned on, almost seeming as if she wasn't in the room with them, "Good luck in Liverpool. Go Greyhounds."

Lilith turned on her heel and exited the room. No shouting. No threats. It had sounded like she read straight from a script.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" Colin glared at Roy from a few rows ahead of him, Isaac nodding from his side, "She looked like a zombie and she didn't even threaten to castrate us! She wished us luck!" He looked to the other players around him in exasperation, "When has Lilith ever wished us anything other than to be hit by a plane?"

"She once wished I would turn into an actual golden retriever." Dani smiled happily as he remembered the encounter, "She said it would make me more enjoyable to be around." The others nodded and patted his shoulder.

Isaac had a stoic face as he recalled some of his encounters with her, "Lilith once wished all Rolos would disappear just because I asked for the time when she was busy." He wiped a stray tear from under his eye, "Who does that?"

"But now, she's wishing us luck. So what did you do to her?"

Their captain was still refusing to make eye contact with his teammates, his jaw could be seen clenched in frustration, "Mind your own fucking business, Colin." Roy ground out, rising to his feet to address the room, "Grab your shit and get on the bus."

Ted and Beard watched on as the room mumbled bitterly but complied to their captain's command. Roy didn't spare any of them a glance as he stomped out of the room.

-

"Oh dear listeners, it's come to that dreadful time again." Lionel sighed, dramatically draping his hand over his forehead, "We have another break up episode in store for you today."

"Cut the drama, babe. It's not that bad."

Lionel's eyebrows rose, glancing at her appearance before scoffing, "You're wearing the largest sweater I have ever seen and you've played your 'I want to punch someone' playlist at least 30 times."