Blood on the Pitch

Chapter Twenty Four

Madison picked around the food that sat on her lunch tray, she looked out the cafeteria window, seeing small raindrops form.
"I can't believe we have practice when it's clearly going to rain. Someone's going to get hurt," Joanna comments.
Sophie shrugs, "I mean, we'll probably just go over strategy or some shit. Right Mad's?"
Madison looks up, "Uh, yeah, I think we are going over position's, making sure the alternates understand how we work and such. Then I think we're doing some dribble drill and such in the gym"
Madison offers a weak smile to Sophie, it had been three days since her mother had stopped by, it had seemed that Sophie's sleep routine was going backwards, not forwards.
Sophie nods, "See. No need to risk ankle snapping,"
Joanna nods, "Maddie?"
"Hm?"
"Have I been improving?"
Madison nods, "Yeah, you're doing great. Just, you need to work your left side as much as your right. You don't want the opposing team to know you have a weak side,"
The two girls had smoothed out their tension a bit, Joanna stopped giving weird stares and called her on the phone, apologizing.
"Yeah, Casey knows that better than anyone," Talia teases.

Casey rolls her eyes, "That was like...one time,"
"One?" Sophie laughs, "Dude, it was like every game Junior year,"
"We had to have someone protecting your left side like every game," Olivia adds with a laugh.
"Maddie, back me up. I don't have a weak left side,"
Madison smiles, her only response being to sip her soda. Sophie laughs, sipping her coffee.
Casey puts a hand to her chest, the rest of the team giggling.
Sophie yawns, resisting the urge to rest her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.
"How have you been, Sophie?" Olivia asks.
Sophie raises her brows, "What do you mean?"
"Well you know...after everything," Jill trails off.

Sophie bites her lip, Madison places her hand on Sophie's knee, giving her a small reassurance.
"Yeah, I mean," Rebecca begins, "Do you just like...live at Madison's now?"
"Guys," Madison warns.
"It's none of your guy's business," Talia adds with a mouthful of salad.
"It's fine," Sophie replies, "Uh, as of now, yeah I'm camping out at her place,"
Olivia takes the girl's hand, "I'm here for you if you need," Sophie smiles softly at her friend, grateful that she had Madison and Olivia for support.
"We all are," Rebecca adds.
Sophie nods, shifting uncomfortably, "Thanks guys,"
The bell rings, thankfully  putting the conversation to end.

The storm outside grew, making Madison slowly grow more anxious.
Thunderstruck loudly like a hammer, the girls stood in the gym, taking turns practicing kicking drills.
A loud thunder strike makes Madison jump, Sophie laughs slightly at her, "Scared of storms, Walker?"
"Ha. Ha," she sarcastically replied.
The power begins to slowly flicker, Madison feels a wave of fear course through her body, not too fond of memories flashing through her mind.
It seemed as if Sophie was having similar thoughts, her hand automatically reaching for Madison's.
The power continued to flicker until it went out completely.
They were only in the darkness for a few minutes before the school's generated lights flicked on, offering a tiny bit of light.
"What the fuck?" Jenifer gasps.

"Girls, it's fine. We'll go check the breaker, you guys can go get changed, we're done here," Coach Spencer replied.
Madison squeezes Sophie's hand, "Soph?"
"It's okay. It's just from the storm. We'll get changed and we can go home, okay?"
Madison nods, following the team to the locker room.
Madison snickers when she hears Casey run into a wall as they enter the dark hallway, "Ow, the fuck?"
"There's a wall there," Sophie deadpans.
"I know that now,"
The girls walk into the pitch black locker room, Madison holds onto Sophie's hand tightly.

"It's so fucking dark," Jill groans.
"Soph, I say we just grab our shit and leave. I have a really bad feeling," she whispers, the dread in her stomach filling as fast as the rain was falling from the sky. Sophie looks at Madison, even in the dark she could see the fear in her eyes, "okay, let's go,"
The team seems to follow Madison's logic, not bothering to change in the dark, instead grabbing their things and beginning to head out.
Madison leads the way to the main exit, pushing on the door. Panic rises as the door doesn't open, no matter how hard she pushes on it.
"Maddie, open the door," Jill groans.
"What the fuck do you think I'm trying to do?"
Sophie goes to help, "What the fuck?"
Madison takes a shaky breath, "Go try the other doors,"

The girls nod, each breaking off in pairs and scrambling.
"Sophie-"
"Breathe. It's okay. The janitor probably just forgot that we had practice or something,"
"Yeah. That's sounds like something someone in a fucking horror movie would say right before they get murdered,"
"I know you're freaking out-"
"Maybe you should be too!"
"I fucking am Madison!" she snaps, "I am freaking the fuck out but I'm trying to keep myself calm so we both aren't having fucking panic attacks right now, okay?"
Madison glares, but it morphs into an expression of fear when another loud crash of thunder echoes through the school.