Fallen (44 page)

Re
luctantly, I slipped my mask
over my head and met Sarai in the middle of the mat. As Ms. Valentine
stood between us and
reviewed the rules of engagement, I didn’t bother listening. I already knew this was going to be a
blowout.
The foil I held in my hand
-
the one assig
ned to me -
still had dust on it.

“En garde!” Ms. Valentine screamed with her usual
voracity
.

Sarai’s mask had a see-through visor
and when our eyes met the side of her mouth turned up in an evil
grin
.

In the next moment,
Ms. Valentine was at the edge of the mat and Sarai was parrying, moving around with fancy footwork
that
I hadn’t practiced once.

She was so fluid that it only took a few steps before she made it clear that she knew what she was doing.

I felt like a lamb
at
the slaughterhouse.

After a
few more steps
and a little
more dancing,
without any warning, she came at me, lunging deep
.

Oddly, if it wasn’t for me moving i
nto
her blade by accident, she would have missed her mark
, slicing down across the left side of my waistline.
Apparently, footwork aside, Sarai could use a little practice
,
too. This gave me some relief.

Because of my
clumsy
maneuvering
,
the
point of her blade
hit me squarely in the chest
.
Ms. Valentine
enthusiastically called
out the points. I ignored her.

Shockingly, the impact
didn’t hurt,
it felt
more like someone had poked me
rather
than
stabbed me.
The rubber tip on the end actually worked.
I o
nly had time to realize this when Sarai
burst
toward
me
again.

T
his one made contact too
,
on the same side
and in the same area
as her first strike
, just below my ribs
. Ms. Valentine screamed out another point.

A
nother
lunge landed
in the same spot.

“Recovery! Retreat!”
Ms. Valentine commanded.

I ignored her
again
. What good was it?

More fancy footwork and parrying by Sarai.

Another lunge
…
same side
…
same area.

Another point.

I felt something rip. It was at my waist
, on the left side
. I looked down
,
my
mask block
ing
my view.

Realization swept over me as I figured out what Sarai had been doing. She hadn’t been aiming poorly. She knew exactly what she was doing, hitting the same spot repeatedly until it weakened and tore
my uniform
.

I was now
exposed
, defenseless.

Another lunge
came
, this one aimed
directly
at the
tear
.

I brought my foil up to recovery stance and suddenly Sarai was moving lightning f
ast, advancing aggressively
,
as if she were an animal and smelled blood.

Unexpectedly, coming
from some faint memory, I began
pa
rrying left, right, semi-circle
.
It was more reaction than anything
,
but I was good at it. I knew this because I heard gasps from the class and even applause a few times.
I felt just as fluid as Sarai looked.

To my satisfaction, I was wearing her down.
I could hear her through our masks, heaving for breath
.

O
ur blades met
,
bringing
our faces close
enough that
I
was looking
directly
i
n
to her
eyes.

The opportunity was too
good
to pass up
,
I
grinned
at her
, taunting
her
.

Sarai released a guttural scream
and shoved
me to the side. T
hat
is
when I felt the blade slice
into
my skin.

As if a trigger had been set, the hair on
the back of my neck
responded wildly.

I didn’t retreat
,
though.
I advanced.

Out
of the corner of my eye
,
I saw a flash of light move from the rafters above
. It swooped down, cutting a path between Sarai and me
,
so forceful it took my breath with it.

Sarai screamed, this one in agony, and fell backwards landing with a loud
thud on the mat in front of me, her expression
was
just as confused as I felt.

Suddenly,
the class was still.

Only Sarai’s heaving from her sprawled position on the mat could be heard.

In the quiet,
someone to my right said, “You’re bleeding.”

Ms. Valentine rushed
toward
me
and bent down at my waist. “Okay…okay…to the nurse’s office. Sarai, are you hurt?”

Sarai didn’t respond, she didn’t move. She remained on her back,
trying to catch her
breath, glaring up at me.

“Sarai,” said Ms. Valentine
,
more insistently. “Are you hurt?”

Her
response
was a low
growl, sounding more animal than human. She shook her head.

“Maggie, will you
make it to the nurse’s office?”

I nodded
,
and she
ordered
me to go straight there
…
immediately.

I did but not before checking the rafters again for any sign of the bright
,
white light.
It was gone,
but it didn’t matter. I already knew it had been Eran
who had shoved Sarai to the ground, once again,
protecting me.

By the time I walked through Nurse McKintrich’s door, the white fencer’s uniform was drenched in blood. She gasped and immediately went to work preparing her tools to suture me.

In truth, the anesthesia
needle hurt worse than the cut. T
he wound just happen
ed
to look awful.
So when
Nurse McKintrich
left the room, allowing
time for
the numbness
to
take effect,
I had to mindfully stop myself from pressing on the open wound.

It was during that
brief
time I sensed I was not alone.
A few quick glances around made me question it. Without anyone visible it was hard to be convinced. But whether by a subliminal need to be with him again or as a result of the onset of shock, I felt him near.

“I know you’re here,” I whispered, so that my voice didn’t carry
into
the other room. The door was slightly ajar and if they heard me talking to myself they might consider calling a different type of doctor.

“I can feel you.”

There was no voice, no bright
,
white light as there had been in the gym.
Regardless,
I
seized
the opportunity to talk to Eran
.
Even if he wasn’t there listening,
and I was only imagining him,
at least I
was getting
it off my chest.

“
I
-I
don’t understand why you are avoiding me. If I’ve done something wrong…something that offended you, I’m sorry.” My voice trembled
in reaction to the emotions running through me
.
I
had to stop
and
draw in a
few
deep breath
s
.
I was compelled to do
something only made possible after
quickly surveying
the empty room
again
. He could be here, watching me
and
listening. Or, I could be speaking to no one at all. Somehow, my convincing myself that I was alone made it easier to make my confession.

“I am in love with you.” I stopped
,
absorbing the unavoidable nervousness that had taken over
every muscle in my
body.
“And I miss you,” I whispered, noticing that my body began to shake uncontrollably.

Nurse McKintrich pushed the door open
,
noticing
I was in the midst of a trembling fit. Rushing to my side in a panic, she was about to call an ambulance when I stopped her.