Children of the Stars

Chapter Eleven

    I clamped my mouth shut, astonished by the fact I had just called her name, but it was too late. Kitch broke the kiss, snapping her blazing eyes onto me. Behind her, Emma fixed her shirt, blushing furiously as Kitch removed her hands from beneath the grey fabric. Behind the pair of them, a ghostly pale girl appeared, her eyes glinting almost white in the half-darkness of the tunnel.

    "Why are you always eavesdropping, Amythest?" Kitch growled through bared teeth as she stalked towards me. "Are you always this goddamn nosy?"

    I was taken aback by the aggression and hatred rolling off of my friend in waves. "Excuse me?" I stammered, completely blown away,

    "You heard me!" Her hands landed on my chest, right below my collarbone, and shoved me.

    "Don't touch me," I hissed, my anger rising as I was forced to give a step to her.

    "What are you gonna do about it, bitch?" Again, she descended on me, pushing me again and again in the same place, forcing me to back up with each shove. "You are a fucking eavesdropping little bitch and that's all you'll ever be! Don't think I didn't see you earlier today, hiding in the corner while Emma and I were talking!"

    "Kitch—" Emma tried to break in. That was when I snapped.

    "I said don't touch me!" I roared, reaching up without thinking and slapping Kitch across the face. I heard a horrified gasp, but to my surprise, it came from the ghostly girl in the corner, not Emma, who was backing away towards the bookcase door. I glared at Kitch as she recoiled from the blow and then fixed me with a glare of pure, black venom.

    "You're dead," she whispered. That was when she charged. Over the roaring of blood in my ears, I heard footsteps enter the tunnel, but all I could focus on was Kitch, right in front of me. The dark haired girl bent down low, aiming for my midriff as she ran, but I bent my knees and braced myself for impact. As she slammed into me, I grabbed her tightly, under one arm and right around her neck. She let out a strangled snarl and began flailing her arms, catching the side of my face with a lucky blow from her free hand and carving four jagged scratches along my jaw, which I felt burn and bleed immediately.

    Intense hatred filled my gut. I heard shouting all around me, felt other people rake their hands down my back in an attempt to break me away from Kitch, saw people grabbing for Kitch, too, but I ignored them all as I brought my knee up. I heard it connect with her jaw with a sickening thunk, followed by a muffled curse. She pushed away from me, just far enough to spit blood from her bitten tongue and lip in my face. She shook off the people grappling at her and gave me a few rude gestures.

    "Come on, you piece of shit," she shouted, smirking at me and flashing me her red teeth. "Let me see how wild you can get."

    I made to tackle her again, when suddenly a loud roar echoed through the small space. I covered my ears as my head rang, and in the time that everyone fell quiet, a new lioness appeared, leaping and bounding her way through the crowds, around me and stopped right in the centre of our fight.

    The lion was a coppery-red color, gold hints high-lighting her fur, but it was her green-brown eyes that gave her away. I watched Kaylin closely as she first bared her teeth, tail lashing madly, at Kitch, and then turned to me and did the same show. I just continued to glare, my anger not yet spent. Kaylin roared again, loud enough to muffle my hearing, and I crouched down in agony. The massive she-cat pounced on me, grabbed me by the hood of my plaid shirt and dragged me further away from Kitch, even as I struggled the whole way.

    In behind Kitch, I watched as the ghostly girl skirted the crowds and headed for the bookcase door. Right before she left, she cast me an apologetic glance from white-blue eyes, and darted out of the tunnel. Immediately after her disappearance, the air lightened considerably. The dark haired girl on the other side of the tunnel was watching me, her scowl slowly disappearing. Even all my anger, just moments ago pent up and unable to escape, slowly leached out of me.