Behind These Refuge Walls

The gym was almost empty when I dropped by after school. No annoying guys trying to show off, no overzealous rookies. There were only a very few people boxing in their own worlds, not paying any attention to anything else. All you could hear was the sound of fists hitting bags.

An arm landed on my shoulder and I froze as it tugged on me.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I pulled myself out of Gerry's grip and glared at him, hoping that I might be menacing in the slightest.

"What are you talking about?"

Acting dumb was so stupid and immature of me, because we both knew what he was talking about. How could I even think that I could hold my actions hidden from Gerry, especially when they concerned fights?

"You are no better than a five year old! It was stupid to support you into coming here. How many times have I told you, Charlotte, how many times have I told you, not to get fooled by these stupid fights? They'll pull ya in, kid, they'll pull ya in and you'll be dead before you know it! Is that what you want? To throw away everything you have?"

"Gerry, I'm not losing myself in anything. It was one fight!"

"Which will turn into a hell of a lot more!"

"Maybe it will! But it's not for the reason you think! Ger, just trust me, will you?"

He took long strides towards his office and I struggled to follow him.

"What's that supposed to mean, Charlotte?"

"I'm being responsible."

"You don't know the first thing about responsibility! Your fights stand to prove that!"

He slammed the door shut behind us and I waved my hands around me.

"I am not talking to you until you've calmed down!"

The room suddenly seemed lighter. It was far more quiet than I seemed to remember it. I waited for him to breathe from his seat. He sat there for a while and I stood by the door in a numb silence. I strongly refused to say another word to him, partly because I was boiling with anger, but mainly because I didn't really know what else to tell him.

He eventually looked back at me, with less judgment than before. Or maybe I was just seeing things.

"What're ye doin', kid?"

I sighed, ran a hand through my hair, looked around, ran another hand through my hair, shrugged, then finally sat down. All that show lasted for enough time to make Gerry shake his head disapprovingly. I could imagine what was going on through his head - he thought that I was now looking for fights just to show off and I was blind to the consequences. As it was, I only had two options: I either let him believe that, or I told him that I'd been recruited by a secret supernatural society to end supernatural slavery.

"Gerry, please listen to me. I...don't really know what to tell you."

"Well, ain't that a good start."

"I promise you, Gerry, I'm not doing this to get back in the game just for the sake of the thrill."

"Then give me a good reason why ye're back in the ring. And why you seem to be planning on staying."

"I can't."

Gerry's face fell in a serious mask. He looked worried, scared even.

"What did ya get yerself into?"

"Nothing, I swear, I'm just helping out a friend with some tips. Gerry, I'm not stupid, I wouldn't put Nate in danger with my stupidity."

As those words left my mouth, I realized how much of a hypocrite I was. Gerry waited still and I knew that the expected (and right) thing to do was to tell him the truth. I wasn't an adult and the situation was anything but something an airy teenager should keep to herself. My insides churned into a tight knot. I couldn't.

He frowned at me and shook his head.

"Don't. Don't be stupid. I beg of ye."

"Gerry, please, trust me. I know how dangerous it is."

I ran a hand through my hair for the third time in those fifteen minutes. As I took a deep breath, the air seemed to be filled with anxiousness. Somehow, though, talking to Gerry released some of the tension I had unknowingly been harboring.

"I have to get going," I suddenly said.

"No practice today?" he questioned harshly.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing." Because it seemed too cold of a reply, I quickly added, "I'll drop by this Friday."

He muttered a goodbye. As I left his office, I figured that I'd disappointed him. I feared that he could even call my parents.

No sooner had I stepped outside that the afternoon heat made me stop and scowl behind my glasses. I took long steps towards my car, without initially looking around. Then, a mop of hair caught my eye. I slowed down.

"Janice?"

She smiled at me, like a little kid caught doing something wrong.

"The boys told me you hang around here a lot. Max said the instructor is an old friend of yours or something?"

Slightly uncomfortable with her around and slightly annoyed by the heat, I nodded dumbly.

"Yeah."

A long pause ensued.

"Are you okay?" she blurted. After the brief and somehow eye-opening conversation with Gerry, I felt inclined to stare at Janice with a renewed soberness. "You look very...grim." Something inside me woke up with an angry need to finally be a part of something. There was this thing that needed to be done and I didn't get why I was feeling this.

Half an hour later, we stood by the pier, her with a latte in hand and me munching on my sunglasses. I started talking about the fights, about school, about Gerry's concern.

"He's right to worry, you know."

"I know."

A bunch of seagulls dove before us with vicious screams.

"What are you going to do?"

I shrugged, because in all honesty, I didn't really know. However, there was a big part of me that had woken up that day. I had to get involved, I had to do something. I had been postponing this for too long with my thinking (or lack thereof).

"I need to talk to Vallin and see what I can do. They asked for my help, I'll give it."

She looked at me strangely, as if seeing me for the first time.

"I'll ask my aunt to drop a word for you."

I nodded and gave her half of a smile. She finished her latte and soon left, leaving me with a beeping phone. I took it out and a message flashed on the screen.

Cobra's in town today. Showdown tonight. (:
-Ryan

The Maserati soared on the streets of Orlando. I drove to the parking lot that I would be visiting quite a lot from then on.

I walked around for a while in an attempt to find someone.

The warehouse looked like a harmless place during daylight. There was no movement going on, there were no cars spread around the parking lot. The building itself looked ready to collapse, which made for a good reason not to think of looking around. A stray dog sniffed its way across the parking lot.

Just as I was about to give up on all hope, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Out of instinct, I spun and my heart did a back flip, but there was no starving werewolf ready to lunge at me. I narrowed my eyes at a piece of cloth around the far corner of the building. Nearing it, the piece turned into a huge blanket and once I went around the corner, I experienced a very "Eureka!" kind of moment. It didn't take a genius to know that underneath the material was a car, hidden from curious eyes. I peeked underneath it and spotted the car's brand and a custom license plate, the kind that told you the owner's nickname - C0BRA.

So he was there.

Looking around, I also saw the door through which I had entered last time. It was already opened and there was no one in sight, so I played detective.

Despite its wrecked appearance, the door made no sound as I pushed it open. I took a few steps, walked down the corridor towards the improvised locker room and froze. A low murmur made its way to my ears. Words. Two male voices talked behind the door. My heartbeat went wild and with all my bravado, I couldn't move.

"So what do you think?" a first voice said - a smooth voice of a young man.

A second voice replied. He had a rougher voice, seemed older, but spoke calmly, almost as if trying to match up the first man's smoothness. "Pretty expensive. What does it do?"

"My friend, this right here is the solution to all of your problems. This is the end to all of your problems. You will never have to worry about any white hair, no wrinkles, no getting tired easily. Expensive? Oh, not at all, my dear sir. Just think about the perks of this sole object. You're a business man, you know prices and I'm sure you know all about quality over quantity. Well, I assure you that what I'm offering you here is almost a bargain! I've been hearing that you've been having some problems with your fights lately. Your...snake-like strategy is no longer...snake-like."

In my head, it was safe to assume that the other man was, thus, Cobra.

"Word gets around quick. So what do I have to do? "

A shadow walked past the door and through the stained glass window I saw his shadow. My foot slipped backward, ready to run for my life. And yet, curiosity overcame the instinct to flee.

"Cut your wrist slightly. Just to make it bleed." There was some movement and Cobra made an annoyed sound. My stomach churned. "You put a drop of your blood in here and say these words...but only when you need to...don't abuse it...Now whisper the words to yourself."

I couldn't make out what Cobra said then, nor did I understand what happened, but the silence was broken by an angry curse. Objects began flying around the room. A man made a sound that was close to a roar. In all that nonsense, I didn't hear the footsteps nearing the door. I didn't hear him walk out. I only faced him in a matter of seconds.

He was a slim man in his mid twenties with slick brown hair. He wore a pair of jeans, a black shirt and a jacket. For a man, though, he didn't seem that strong. His physique made him an easy target for me. If necessary, I could take him down, but the strange sparkle in his green eyes certainly made up for his lack of physical strength.

At first he seemed just as shocked to see me as I was to see him. Then, in a blink of an eye, he took off in the other direction. Behind the door, Cobra was still punching things, making a chaos of that locker room. I will never know what came into me to make me start chasing the stranger, but I did. I instantly began running down the corridor, with the man straight ahead. He kept looking back, as if checking to see if I was still following. Whatever it was, I stopped thinking. He threw another door open and we ran into the large hall, where the ring was set up in the middle. In his attempt to stop me, he brought down some chairs in front of me which I narrowly avoided.

For someone who didn't seem to have too much of a physical condition, he sure could run. His jacket flew around him and it was then that I noticed that he carried a small black leather bag in his right hand. I ran faster and had him, almost had him, an inch from my hand...

He dashed out the front entrance into the sunlight. I followed suit, hand stretched and then...there was nothing. He was gone. The parking lot was empty. No sound came from anywhere around the building. My car laid right where I'd left it. The stray dog had disappeared.

Breathing heavily and remembering that back inside was a demented fighter, I pulled out my phone whilst running towards the safety of my car.

"Michael? Michael?!"