The Project

Doing Battle with an Animatronic Audience

I reach out and grasp for the back of Cade's shirt, and surprisingly I manage to grab a handful of the soft material. We both stumble and I end up on top of him pinning him down with my hands on his shoulders. Looking back I realize how cliche that position was (for interrogation of a boy who looked like a descendant of Adonis I mean) but it was practical. Not that I didn't enjoy it I mean, how could I not feel the firmness of his muscles beneath his red cotton shirt and become increasingly aware of his heart beat racing beneath my palms? I'm still a teenage girl after all. But anyways, I had him. I looked him in the eyes (which were a gorgeous shade of grey by the way. Ok ok I'm done.) and asked,

"Alright pretty boy, how did you do all this??? Hypnosis? Is that your skill?"

He replied with a laugh

"You're getting closer dearie, but not quite. If you can manage to find a brain in that pretty little head of yours then I suggest taking advantage of it and piecing together the VERY obvious clues I've left you."

He was toying with me.

What clues? Think you idiot, what clues?......the tree? It practically materialized in front of me...

I looked over my shoulder and I couldn't breathe. The tree was no longer there.

"Alright Cade, where'd the tree go?"

"Uh-oh, did I mess with a cute little environmentalist? Terribly sorry. But worry not, your "tree" is safe with me."

What the hell. You could legitimately sense the air quotations of implied sarcasm when he said tree...

Suddenly I was winded as Cade launched me off of him using his knees.

Huh. Pretty boy has actually got some strength in him.

"What were those charming words about physical violence being tacky?"

I still manage to keep up some snark, even while feeling like he caused some severe damage to my insides with that kick.

"Oh darling Arista, never trust the sincerity of my words. I say what pleases me, and I do the same. While you aren't remarkably heavy, you were just taking too long. I had to eject you from my person before you did any damage."

That little...

"Anyways, I suppose we must do battle now?"

"What?"

He sighed, seemingly exhausted with my density. Jerk.

"I tried scaring you with my first little arena, I tried outrunning you here, and with your strength it's no wonder you caught me. So using my brain I deduced the only thing left to do is to battle each other right here and now. Doesn't that make sense?"

"Bring it on."

"Oh, and there are no pebbles here for you to hurl. I made sure of that. This battle will continue till you figure out my skill-set. Now, are you ready?"

"As I stated earlier, bring it on."

Cade took a position about ten feet from me and stood there, looking bored.

What should I do? He obviously can dodge anything. He can change my surroundings in the blink of an eye. And he seems to have some serious strength under that innocent, touch-me-not facade.

Suddenly he's next to me. I feel his breath heating the side of my neck. I catch a whiff of cinnamon before I'm thrown at least five feet away from where I was standing. I pull myself to my feet as I had landed on my stomach, arms and legs akimbo.

"Such grace, such poise..."

His voice is making me ill.

"Well I'm not exactly trying to be Miss United States."

I'm spitting words at him. Furious he snuck up on me.
It won't happen again. I'm ready. I noticed last time that the moment before he appeared I felt an almost ripping in the air where he appeared, about two seconds before he was there. I feel it again, coming from my left. I smirk, knowing that I'm left handed and that this time I won't be the one flying through the air. I hit him with my fist, hard, and follow with a knee firmly planted into his abdomen. The result is a winded Cade staggering a few feet to my side.

Bet he didn't see that coming.

"How did you..?"

He's wheezing. Good.

"Oh you know. Women's intuition?"

I think his mannerisms are rubbing off on me.

Suddenly the field morphs wildly and changes to a forest. Dark and cool, but deathly quiet. Alright, I think I can handle this. Then I hear it. The growls that are unmistakably canine.

Crap. Wolves.

I see them circling me, probably five of them. I pick up a tree branch from the ground cautiously and brandish it.

This has got to be the worst weapon ever. Wait, where's Cade?

"Alright darling, just try not to get hurt too badly. I still want you pretty enough for me to enjoy viewing this battle."

Cocky bastard, he's up a tree looking smug as ever. Letting me duke it out with the wolves he seems to have created from thin air.

"I'm going to smash your face in when I finish here Cade!"

The wolves are circling and getting closer. Alright so maybe his power isn't hypnotism. I'm fully aware of what I'm saying and thinking and I'm pretty sure those thoughts and words are mine. What else? It's really hard to think with killer canines looking at me like I'm the first meal they've seen in weeks. One leaps at me and I swing the stick at it. There is an audible cracking noise as it yelps and flies backward. Unfortunately the impact to the wolfs body seems to have snapped the damn stick in half. I'm so screwed. I keep swinging the stub of a stick at the wolves and make contact once or twice, but never enough to fully drive them back. Then it hits me. Wolves are pack animals. My first attacker flew through the air and it barely phased the others. This wolves aren't normal, almost as if they were...

"Cade!"

"Yes sweetheart? Tiring of your batting practice?"

"I know what your powers are!"

I turn to face him. The wolves don't scare me anymore.

"Do tell."

"It's something like Hallucinogenics, isn't it?"

Almost immediately the crawling in my neck vanishes, and I'm in semi-gloom and muggy heat again. As I gather my surroundings I realize I'm in the "It's a Small World" ride.

No. No no no I didn't...

I see a couple of beheaded Dutch-kid animatronics before me, and a metal pipe in my hand.

Cade's laughter breaks the silence.

"You figured it out. I'd suggest getting back to your room. And avoid the security cameras. To them you looked like a crazed teen hacking away at this demonic contraption with a metal pipe. How humorous..."

A smile quirked on his lips, and he promptly vanished.