Polar Opposites

Matty

Shit, shit shit,' I groan as I hobble down the stairs. That girl can really throw a punch. As I reach the door, I spot Robin coming into the room. From the look of fury on my face and the fact that I am practically bent over double, he catches on quickly.

'Which way?'

'Outside.'

He flings open the door and runs out into the forest. I am recovered from my episode now, and follow him out into the dense woodland. Quickly my training comes into play. I look for signs of Lana and easily spot the trail of broken bracken and leaves that she has left in her wake. I go to the left of her self-made path, predicting where she will end up if she continues on her trajectory.

And yes, as I thought, I can see her soft white skin between the rows of trees. I squat behind a bush, like a tiger ready to spring on its prey, and wait till she's almost run past me. And then I pounce. I tackle her round the knees and she comes crashing to the floor. I pin her leg underneath me to stop her from getting up. She retaliates by smacking her head back into my nose. I hear a crack and feel the warm smell of blood beginning to run down my face, the coppery taste dripping into my mouth. I've still got her pinned underneath me, but she's used my pain to begin to inch out of my grip. I grit my teeth through the throbbing in my nose and lunge further on top of her. She shrieks in shock and tries to use her head as a weapon again. But I'm prepared this time, and pull tightly on her hair before she breaks another of my bones.

And finally, Robin comes crashing through the branches and immediately starts to help. Within 30 seconds we've got her pinned between us, squeezing her arms so tight to her sides that she can barely breathe.

'Took your time didn't you.' I grumble to Robin.

'Better late than never!' he grins.

Lana responds to the situation by spitting on my boots.

Once we've locked her back into her room I slump onto my bed. Too late I realise I've just spread blood onto my white sheets. I grumble to myself groggily and heave myself off the bed and downstairs to my father. As I go past her room I can hear her methodically kicking the door, each hit followed by a scream of both pain and fury.

I continue downstairs and knock on my father's study. He turns in his chair as I come in, and raises his eyebrows at my bloody exterior.

'Tried to escape.' I offer as an explanation.

'But you found her?'

'Yes.' I say, and he visibly relaxes in his chair. 'But if you haven't noticed I am currently losing blood.'

Father chuckles to himself and stands up out of his chair to reach the first aid box. It opens with a snap and he pulls out a bottle of iodine and a dressing. I brace myself as he pours the iodine onto my nose, sterilising the cut, but burning up my flesh in the process. Luckily it's not broken, as I had originally thought, so the only thing left to do is place the dressing over it, and it's like it never happened.

'Thanks.' I sniff at him, still annoyed at his aggressive use of the iodine. He nods back at me to acknowledge it, and I turn to leave, but he stops me halfway.

'Matty, I think that now would be the time to move onto the next stage of our plan,' he says.

I turn to face him and see his usual scheming look plastered over his face.

'What's the next stage?'

'Turning her,' he says simply. 'She has to actually trust us, or at least be willing, in order for the biggest pain to be inflicted on the chief. And to prevent this happening again.' he motions at my nose.

'And how do you expect to do that?' I ask suspiciously.

'You.' he replies sheepishly. 'You need to make her trust you. You need to make her be emotionally attached.'

'No way!' I splutter, 'I'm not going near her. She's psychopathic!'

'And you're not?' Father chuckles. I'm not asking for you to believe it, I'm asking for her to. You can still hate her, but be more... subtle.'

I snort in response, but don't say no. As I'm walking out the door Father stops me one more time.

'Starting now, Matty.'