I didn’t want to run around town again, the same old environment was becoming boring. I thought I would pass an idea by Nate—it was a long jog but I really needed it.
“To the old tip and back,” I yelled to Nate over our pounding breaths.
Nate looked at me, questioning the distance; I simply nodded.
“Okay, but not at this speed,” said Nate.
I adjusted my pace and slowed down, Nate matched my speed. In no time we reached the end of the town. It was a great feeling exerting all of my pent-up energy. The adrenalin I used to power myself this far was addictive.
Invisible eyes seared through my intoxicating emotions. I stopped mid-stride very abruptly. Nate ran another few meters before realizing I had stopped.
I was so over this crap, what was her problem? For weeks now this girl had been silently harassing me, I’d had enough of this.
“Stop being a coward and show yourself, Bernie,” I yelled out loud.
My emotions plummeted into a dangerously scary place, I wanted a fight. What better place than out here on the edge of town away from those who could get hurt.
Quiet stillness challenged me. I looked around and there was no one but us for as far as I could see. How the hell could she hide herself so well? Nate’s hand patted my back.
“Let’s go home, we don’t want this fight.”
“Get your hand off me now.” I could see nothing but red now. Nate ignored my request. That simple action collapsed my inner barrier; I spun around and pushed Nate with all my force. He backed away from me, all of the stress from Bernie and not being able to continue with my cases bubbled to the surface. As Nate stepped back, I engaged him in fighting mode, he struggled to get away from me.
“Calm down, Indy. I won’t fight you. I can see you’re upset.”
My insides felt like an elastic band had been pulled back and flung through the air with full force. I couldn’t control how I felt inside, all I knew was that I wanted to beat up someone and Nate was the nearest target I could find. If the real object of my frustration was here, I would beat her till she begged me to stop.
I threw my left hook into Nate’s face, he dodged my impending blow. Lighting fast, I leaped through the air, positioning my body for a spinning roundhouse kick. My opponent was there before I spun but jumped to the ground by the time my leg flew across mid-air, compensating fast, I dropped to the ground, driving an elbow into Nate’s back. He rolled over and grabbed my hands, pinning them to his sides. He had me trapped in a bear hug.
“Calm down, Indy,” Nate cooed into my ear.
“I can’t continue to be followed and have no outlet to deal with my rage.”
“Fight me, Indy, but not like this. You need to calm down first.” pleaded Nate.
I had wanted to hurt Nate. He was conveniently in the wrong place, poor boy. Luckily, it hadn’t been Connor. This could work or it might at least get the boys off my case and I could sneak out.
“Okay, sure, why not.” I calmed myself down slowly and positioned myself to spar with Nate.
Chapter Fourteen
Nate
As Indy screamed out, daring Bernie to show herself, I could see a change taking place in her. I had to calm her down before she scared the locals. Even though we were just out of town, her voice would be traveling some distance. I doubted we would find her, if she wanted to stay invisible, we were stuffed. Bernie had proved the other night just how trained she was. I had to admit I envied her skills. I could hide myself but nothing compared with her mad skills. She was like a chameleon, blending into any environment, making herself a part of the surrounds.
As I placed my hand on her back, the change dispersed through her. I could literally feel her sweetness change to sour harshness. For the first time it seemed to crawl up my arm and seep into my skin. I wanted to grabbed a knife and cut out the poison, then drive it through her heart—that evilness was contagious.
I watched Indy’s movements. She was a time bomb. I didn’t know what to expect—at any moment she could explode. I tried to push these thoughts aside and concentrate. A miniscule twitch in her neck was the only indictor I got of her incoming attack. I jumped back, Indy had tried to punch me but settled for pushing me instead. This didn’t stop her. After a series of ducks and dodges, I had her laying on top of me.
I needed a new plan. It was obvious to me that she needed some other way to deal with all of this internal stress. I forced Indy to talk to me. As she explained her needs, I offered a simple suggestion. If Indy could fight me it might just be enough. The blackness was real bad. I didn’t know if this could harm her in any way if it continued.
I let go of her arms and pushed her off. Indy stood in front of me and got into her natural fighting position. I copied her and waited for her to strike. Indy was breathing in and out deeply—I knew she was struggling to calm the storm which brewed her feelings. Once Indy composed herself, she started to circle around me. I held my hand up in a defensive block. I was ready for her incoming advance. Indy threw a series of one right jab, followed through with a right elbow aimed for my face, then a left and right punch. I stopped every blow except the left hook, it barely grazed my chin. We kept on going, with each attempt to gain a blow, this was clearing Indy’s mind. Her facial features smoothed softly, this mock fight was doing her good. A sweetly sick fragrance filled the air near normalcy returned to the atmosphere.
For the next half hour, sweat poured from our bodies, we switched roles, and it was now my turn to advance. I showed her no mercy, as she would be pissed if I did. I managed to get a few good blows on her. As sweet as Indy smelled, there was a blackness hiding itself. This time it didn’t disappear, the angel side of her overpowered the waiting demon.. That scared me slightly.
The walk home was relaxing and did wonders to unwind and stretch out our muscles. We had pushed our bodies to our limits while sparring each other. I had learned a few things from Indy as well. We discussed her fighting technique on the way home and where she had learned her skills from. This was the first time she had opened up to me about her past. Indy had learned some of the original ninja skills before western freestyle had been introduced. Looking at this girl, who gave the impression of a drop dead gorgeous teenager, it was hard to believe she really was a lethal killing machine. The moves Indy knew would kill any human in less than ten seconds. I was realizing just how much restraint she did show these men she visited. That darkness within her lingered, this time I’m sure it’s not going away. How long did this take to appear? Did we have hundreds of years till it grew again or was it only weeks? I couldn’t stop wondering if my arrival had started it all and now that Bernie was here, did it also contribute?
All morning I had wanted to tell Indy that Bernie had been inside, especially when she questioned Lucky spending the night in my room. I had a theory that if I did tell her, the small patch of blackness would grow and become a large splotch. Bernie following us around in daylight is one thing, but being inside our house when the others were sleeping crossed the line. Every time I think of her being in Indy’s room it pissed me off.
When we got home we ate the leftovers from breakfast. Nessa knocked on the front door and both girls went up to Indy’s room to chat about periods or boys, I suppose. Or whatever chicks talked about.
Max was being his usual domestic self and was cutting up some veggies to put into the slow cooker. Connor was playing a speed racing game on the game console, I sat at the counter on one of the bar stools, ready to tell Max all I knew about Indy.
“What’s up, Nate? You finally going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
How Max could read into emotions was annoying. I would never be able to hide anything around him.
“Okay, so this is the thing; I can smell the signatures of angel and demons.”
“Okay.” Max knew a little of this already, but I had his full attention. Connor also appeared to be interested.
“When Indy encounters men that she decides to discipline
, this signature becomes dark, but it always goes back to normal. Today when Bernie was following us, I could feel the darkness take her over. This time Indy snapped and attacked me. I can still feel the darkness inside her now; this happened hours ago. I don’t think it’s going to disappear. Max do you know what this means? Will it get worse?”
Max looked shocked, he hadn’t been ready for this news. Then his shock disappeared to reveal confusion. I’m positive he didn’t know what any of this meant. He came to sit on the bar stool opposite me.
“I don’t know what to say, Nate. I’ve never heard of this before.” He sat and stared at the wall, contemplating everything I’d said. “What is my signature like?” Max asked.
I hadn’t expected this. Maybe he was a little preoccupied with himself at times or he was shocked and this was the only comment he could form.
“Old spice, Max, you’re fine.” I implied a little annoyance in my tones.
We sat and stared at the kitchen wall for a little longer;
“We’re going to have to tell Ailsa and see what she says.”
This comment woke Connor up, he looked at me. “She came here a few weeks ago,” replied Connor.
“Did she say anything to Indy?” Max asked.
“I don’t know,” said Connor.
Max went on to explain Ailsa’s role with the fallen and how she could see all of their wings. He said this blackness may be reflective in her wings. Ailsa seemed like a very important person and someone we needed to talk to straight away. For the rest of the day, Max made phone calls to other angels. Ailsa wasn’t answering her mobile, so he did the next best thing and rang around all the other fallen. Some of the angels answered the calls but couldn’t help us, others we left a simple message explaining we wanted to speak to Ailsa. This was now Max’s own special mission; on top of everything else going on, we didn’t need this.
Chapter Fifteen
Indy
Nessa stayed for hours today. We discussed many things but not the specifics of what was bothering her. She asked me again to attend her counseling sessions with her, I made a silly excuse that made no sense, it was important for Nessa to do this herself. For most of the afternoon we discussed her relationship with Brandon. My little Nessa was serious when she told me he was the one. She gushed over countless details of their relationship and all of the little things he did to make her feel special. Mid-afternoon approached and Nessa left to attend a family outing with Brandon’s grandparents. I was so happy she had found happiness.
Boredom dictated the rest of my afternoon. I had to do something, so for the third time this week, I dialed the number Mandy had left on the answering machine. I expected it to go straight to voice mail, but this time it rang and was answered on the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
The voice on the other side of the phone sounded happy and cheerful. I hoped I had the right number.
“Hi, my name is Indiana. Did you contact the Women’s Rights Private Investigator Service?”
The other end of the line went silent. “Hi, Mom, how are you? Yes, the kids are doing good. Let me slip outside for a second.”
I quickly realized this lady was with her husband at this very moment.
“Mandy, I can call you back later if it helps.”
“No, no, Mom, you’re fine. Anthony says hello.”
I heard a door close behind Mandy, and the scuffling of feet on concrete, she was outside somewhere. “Are you okay to speak now?” I asked.
“Yes, I am now.”
“Can you please tell me what’s going on, Mandy?”
Mandy spoke very fast and talked to me in a very chatty mode, producing a fake laugh every so often.
“I don’t know what to do, Indiana. I’m not sure if this is abuse or not. He’s a loving father.’’
“Tell me what’s going on and we can talk about it.”
“I had my last child a year ago and I put on a lot of weight during the pregnancy due to gestational diabetes. I’ve tried to lose the weight through exercise and healthy eating, but my husband Anthony tells me that my ass looks big or my muffin top is overflowing my jeans. I’m constantly being compared to the other moms at day care and his comments are increasing. Sometimes he won’t let me leave the house until I change the clothes I’m wearing to suit his taste. And there’s something else… we’ll be driving along in the car and if we argue, he’ll jerk my parking brakes on while I’m driving. He only does it when there’s no chance of a crash though, and he has never hit me, not once.”
This was the classic denial statement; many women ignore emotional and mental abuse, trying to talk the situation into something positive. It was just a matter of time till he went that little step further and hurt her.
“Is that all that he does, Mandy?”
Mandy was silent for a short period of time. I could hear her moving around on the other side of the line.
“Um, when we fight, he pulls my phone apart, down to bare components and takes the battery out of my car so I can’t leave. He offers me the stroller, but my family lives a good 15 kilometers away and it would take hours to walk with the kids.”
My blood was simmering just under the surface. The bubbles were starting to get larger and come to the boil, my heart was burning as the bubbles entered the right atrium. As it flowed through the various chambers, I held my breath as Mandy continued to talk. I had never heard of an experience as extreme as hers before. This man was very controlling and loved to see her placed into tight situations, where she had no way out.
“I really only just wanted some advice from you. He doesn’t hit me so I can’t leave him.”
This lady wanted me tell her to leave her husband and then she’d most likely go back to him after a few short weeks. Then she might internally use me as a place to cast the blame. I wanted to be her friend and help her out of this but this lady was not at the stage yet where she really wanted to leave.
I gave her all of the internet sites I had on domestic violence and three hotlines. I insisted she call me if she needed help; this particular scenario was a common occurrence in my job. These women only called for a sympathetic ear to listen, but I preferred her to ring me than an automated service which offered no advice but the taped guidelines, press 1 if your life is at risk, press 2 if you fear for your child’s life, press 3… and so on. I made sure not to give any of those numbers to her.
I felt sad for her.
Chapter Sixteen
Indy
Two days had passed since I talked to Mandy. These days had been horribly boring and this day was no different. I couldn’t wait for the last bell to ring, even if it meant I was in for a boring afternoon at the skate park. I was impatient waiting for Nessa to finish her afternoon session. I didn’t even know why she still had to attend; she had admitted nothing had happened beyond Hopwood rubbing her leg. Nessa had confessed to his blackmailing of sexual favours for good grades, and that she refused, but he was still persistent. Mr Hopwood’s court case was in every single newspaper in the state. He was being charged with five accounts of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, five accounts of indecent liberties with a student, and three accounts of false imprisonment.
He was going away for a very long time. Could they leave Nessa alone now? She had told them all she could.
I sat on the ground at my normal spot, thinking. I was still searching for a case behind the boys’ backs, they didn’t suspect anything. I did look forward to my evening sparring sessions, it cleared my mind and gave my muscles a good beating. Occasionally Nate or I managed to get through the other person’s block and inflict some damage. Over the weekend, Nate had been showing off a good shiner. Luckily by the time school started today, it had disappeared. Our friends might have asked a few tricky questions. This afternoon, Casey and Corrina would be meeting Nessa and myself at my house. The time had come to discuss grad dresses.
After an agonizing hour, Nate and Connor joined me for the short walk home. Si
tting on our front step were all three girls and they were in a massive bitch-fest. That funny smell was all over Nessa clothes again, it was pretty bad today. I’m surprised the others weren’t on Nessa’s case about it. Nessa was arguing for the upper-class boutique named All the Pretty Things while Corrina wanted to go to Sparkle. Both shops were great choices and presented their own unique styles. Poor Casey was stuck in the middle, it seemed like my vote would be the tie-breaker. We all went inside and were about to head up to my room when Max yelled out, tempting us girls with a lemon meringue pie.
Nessa was already heading over with her arms stretched out for a plate, she loved his cooking.
Casey made her way over to take a piece, but Corrina stood with her hands on her hips. “Do you know how fat that will make you, Casey? It will go straight to your ass.”
“Good. It needs some cushioning,” blurted out Casey.
Corrina scrunched up her nose and sat on the lounge. I sat with the other two girls devouring some pie. I was a little amazed at Casey, she had been Corrina’s clone since I came to town over a year ago. She was breaking free of this mold and defying her best friend at the same time.
“Look’s like the tables are turning,” Nate called from his bedroom. What could he possibly mean?
We never got upstairs, the argument about dresses continued while we ate. I sat staring at both opposing girls’ mobiles as we searched through dresses at both shops. I couldn’t make up my mind. While I loved what All the Pretty Things had to offer in the way of sophisticated vintage and modern pieces, the dangerously sexy stuff at Sparkles spoke to my cheeky side. I was torn between two gowns which Nessa and Corrina had suggested for me, they were of course at different shops. Both girls had done their research into what I like. They both knew me well.
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