Copyright 2014 Wanda Lotus.
Part 4
I didn’t see Kacela for about a month. I felt her from time to time, but she was either too far away to pick up on me or had decided to leave me alone. That was just fine with me.
One night I was driving home from a movie when I picked up on her energy signature. “She must be out hunting,” I murmured. “I hope she stays out of trouble.” Since I had stopped at a railroad crossing to let a train pass and would be there a while, I homed in on her out of curiosity. She was well fed, so I had been wrong about her hunting. I picked up a lot of agitation, though. My heart went out to her. Even though I was certain she’d been behind her mother’s “accidental” death, I felt sorry for any kid that was thrust into the world on their own so young. I shook my head and stopped those thoughts before they ran too far. I may present myself with authority, but I’m a big softy, and I knew if I thought about it too long, I’d want to get involved in her life.
The train lumbered by, its boxcars and flatbeds crawling through the deserted industrial area. There was nothing to see except for trees and a warehouse or two, so I focused on Kacela’s energy signature to keep from falling asleep to the rumble of the train. Her signature was slowly pulsing: dimming, then returning to its normal level before dimming again. I couldn’t recall sensing anything like that from someone’s energy before. “What the hell is she doing?” Her energy grew dim again, flared to half its normal level, then dimmed to almost nothing. The sudden near-absence of her presence was like the silence after a scream. She was in trouble.
I threw my car into reverse and parked it on the shoulder. I sprinted up the road and followed her energy signature past a small grove, then up the driveway of a factory under renovation. When I got to the back of the building I saw her struggling with a bulky guy who had his hands around her neck. He had her pinned against the wall. Their clothes were askew, probably from their scuffle. By then she was too weak to use her power against him, so all she could do was grab at his hands and flail. If I didn’t act fast, she wasn’t going to make it.
“Hey!” I called. The guy started and stared at me. He eased the pressure on her neck just long enough for her to take a quick breath, then pressed down with his thumbs to cut off her air supply again. His eyes, which were set under a prominent forehead, were unfocused and dark. The only spark in them was from his enjoyment of the power he had over her. “Let her go. She’s not worth it.”
“Mind your fucking business, or you’re next.” He briefly eased his grip again, then laughed as he pressed harder on her windpipe while she was in the middle of desperately gasping for air. “How do you like that, you little tease?” he growled at her under his breath. “Huh? I don’t care what you say, I make the rules of this game.”
“Jesus, man, I don’t want trouble.” Kacela’s eyes were starting to roll up in her head. “Just let her go.”
He glanced into Kacela’s face and sneered as she grew limp. “Who’s gonna make me?” Returning his gaze to me, he slowly looked me up and down, then twisted his lips in disdain. He was my height, but he outweighed me by at least 100 pounds. Flexing his biceps menacingly, he spat a wad of saliva in my direction and turned back to Kacela.
Rage settled over me like a blanket. More than disliking unnecessary violence, I hated not being taken seriously. Unlike most people, my voice tends to get quieter the angrier I become. Softly enough that he had to lean towards me to hear me clearly, I spoke again. I could almost see the icicles hanging onto each word as it rolled off my tongue. “I said, let her go.”
He huffed and dropped her, stomping towards me. I heard her gasping and retching behind him. “What is it with women who don’t know how to mind their own business?”
I held my hands up and backed up a few paces for his own protection. I was on the verge of losing my temper and didn’t want that on my conscience now that Kacela was out of his grasp. “Don’t do it. I told you, I don’t want trouble.”
“It’s too late for that, bitch.”
As he reached for me I redirected his own energy towards him. The force of his rage flung him backwards six feet, where he hit his head against the edge of a dumpster and crumpled to the ground in a silent heap. Judging from the alcohol I’d smelled on his breath, he’d think he had been hallucinating whenever he woke up.
Kacela was curled up on her side, still gasping for air. I crouched next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you all right?”
“I would have been fine, if you hadn’t swooped in,” she wheezed.
“You’re welcome.” Confrontations always made me uneasy, so I wasn’t in the mood for her lip. I straightened up and began to walk away.
“Not only are you bossy, you’re too damn serious. Don’t you know sarcasm when you hear it?” I stopped walking and turned around. She was sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were glowing, illuminated by an inner light. “Where’d you come from? Were you following me or something?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I was driving by and picked up your energy signature. I sensed you were in trouble and came to help.”
She studied me. “I’d think you’d be glad to have me gone.”
“Just because I don’t like your attitude doesn’t mean I want you dead.” I cocked my head to one side. “He’s not one of us. You could have taken him out yourself without any trouble. How’d he get the best of you?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Actually, I do.”
She gave me an impish look. “You seem too straight-laced to be into it, but have you ever heard of breath play?”
I felt the blood rush to my face. “You’re right. I don’t want to know.”
Her voice was hoarse, which made her giggle sound more like a rasp. “I like living on the edge, but he didn’t honor my safe word.” She cleared her throat. Talking obviously hurt, but she was enjoying my discomfort too much to shut up. “By the time I figured out he wasn’t going to let go I was too weak to do anything.”
“I said I don’t want to know.” Now that my adrenaline was gone I shivered in the cool night air. “Listen, if you’re all right, I’m gonna go.”
“I’m all right.”
“Good. Stay out of trouble.” I turned and headed back for the driveway. I could feel her eyes on me as I left. I probably should have offered her a ride or something, instead of leaving her there. But I could feel myself softening towards her, and I didn’t want whatever trouble would come with her into my life. Like she said, she’d done just fine on her own all of that time. She could keep on doing fine without me.
Two days later I was in the grocery store when I sensed her again. Though I hadn’t wanted to admit it, I had been worried about her. I was relieved to feel her energy, and that realization made me scowl. Then I sighed and braced myself. She knew I was there and was in the next aisle waiting for me.
I took my time walking up the aisle and rounding the corner. She was wearing a store employee’s smock over jeans and a tee shirt and was stocking shelves. Her thick, tightly curled hair was pulled back into a French braid that hung between her shoulder blades. When she saw me her eyes lit up and she grinned. I smiled back in spite of myself.
I rolled my cart up to her, eyeing the bruising around her neck. “Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She brushed off her hands and held out her right one. “You left so fast the other night that I didn’t get to thank you. You saved my life. I really appreciate it.”
She’d dialed her energy down to neutral as a sign of respect. My surprise must have shown on my face, because as I shook her hand she said, “I know I can be an ass, but you’re good people. I don’t want to hurt you.” She chuckled. “That is, I don’t want to make a fool of myself trying to hurt you. Something tells me you weren’t kidding when you said I wouldn’t win a fight against you.”
Since she was being sincerely polite, I didn’t rub that in her face. “Why on earth did you try to hook up with that jerk, anyway?”
“I was having a little fun.”
“It didn’t look like much fun.”
“I kind of got in over my head.”
I swallowed a smart-aleck comment about how a lot of things could go over her head at her height. I’m 5’11” and have about five inches on her. “You weren’t hungry, and hookups these days are dangerous in a lot of ways.”
“I told you, I was having fun.” She narrowed her eyes. “You aren’t gonna start lecturing me, are you?”
“Nope. Like you said, you’ve done fine on your own all these years.” I began wheeling my cart away. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Hey, wait, don’t just walk away from me, again.” She laid a hand on my arm.
I stopped when I realized she genuinely wanted my company. I had been in such a hurry to get away that I hadn’t comprehended how deep her gratitude ran. “Sorry.”
“I know I don’t scare you. What’s your hurry?”
“You just don’t seem like you want to be bothered with people, that’s all.”
This time she raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re talking? I think you’re just as much of a loner as I am, you’re just more laid back about it.”
“Touche’.” She was more right than I cared to admit even to myself.
She looked at the end of the aisle and dropped her hand when she saw her manager glaring at her. “I need to get back to work. Want to have dinner when my shift ends at 6? I’d really like to talk.”
Against my better judgment, I agreed to pick her up at the store at 6:30.
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