Unfaded

by Sarah Ripley

  But I couldn't go any further. I pulled away. Kian's body instantly turned rigid and he turned back to the sink.

  "I'm sorry," I said. I picked up my towel. and turned it around in my hands.

  "No, it's my fault," he said. "I shouldn't be pushing myself on you."

  "I'm just not ready. It's too soon. I don't know you the way you know me. And Conner..." The words died in my throat.

  "You don't need to explain."

  When he handed me a glass, it nearly slipped from my hands.

  * * *

  An hour later we were back at the motel and stuck with a bunch of Unfaded who appeared to want to kill each other. Micah sat in his regular chair by the television and he wasn’t talking to Lina who sat on the bed, filing her nails with an emery board. Seito sat on the other bed, his legs crossed beneath him, his eyes closed as he meditated. The heater was above his head and hot hair blew against his skin, his bright white bangs rippled across his forehead.

  There was a lot of tension. I could feel it before we’d even entered the room. Inside, the air was sweltering with all that negative energy bouncing off the walls. Kian and I didn’t even bother to say hello. We just sat down on the bed together and waited for someone else to speak first.

  I’d called Amber before I left. She’d been disappointed when I told her I had a migraine and couldn’t come. She chalked it up to the fight we’d been in earlier. Of course she’d heard about it, the entire school was buzzing about the event, most of it fabricated. I assured her that no one had been arrested or stabbed.

  “But we’re going to the movies tomorrow night, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “We’re on for sure.”

  “Good,” she said. “I get to sit next to Seito.”

  My friends were safe for another night and all I had to do now was deal with a bunch of moody Unfaded.

  “I think we should call Rafferty,” Lina said. “He can...”

  “No,” Micah cut her off.

  “Let me finish. He can help.”

  “No,” Micah said again.

  “I don’t think we have to go that far,” Kian said. “We’re only dealing with Anique and Sobek. They’re screw ups. Come on, they’re not old enough to actually do any damage. They’re children, hardly a thousand years between them. No offense, Seito.”

  “None taken.”

  “They did last time.” This came from Lina.

  “They had help,” Kian snapped. “I was outnumbered.”

  “The girl still died.” Lina continued to file her nails. The scratching from the emery board was the only sound in the room.

  “No one is going to die.” Kian snapped.

  “If you say so.” Lina said.

  I sat in the middle of all of it, trying hard not to be hurt by the words as they were tossed about the room. They were discussing me as if I wasn’t there, as if I was a dog they needed to protect. No one even bothered to ask what I was thinking or feeling. In their eyes, I wasn’t experienced enough to have an opinion. It’s not like I had to do much, except live or die. It wasn’t very reassuring.

  “We kill them,” Lina said. “We find them and quietly dispose of them.”

  “No,” Micah said. “Kian and I aren’t assassins. We don’t work that way.”

  “I work that way,” Lina said. “Does it really matter if you just happen to witness it? Why not just turn your back like you always do.”

  “Don’t you dare say that.” This came from Kian. “Micah has done more to help Mai than you could do in a thousand years.”

  “She keeps dying!”

  Micah was on his feet in an instant with Kian by his side. Lina stood up and she must have weighed more than the two of them together. She was the type of lady that never had trouble holding her own. I gave Seito a helpless look. He opened one of his eyes half an inch and then closed it again. He wasn’t going to be much help. Give him a few human girls and he’d talk like there was no tomorrow. Ask him to interfere in Unfaded conflict and he refused to say a word.

  Neutral was annoying.

  Someone was going to have to end the insanity. Sighing, I stood up. “Stop it,” I said. “This sort of talk isn’t going to solve a bloody thing. I’m here now, I’m alive so far, and we need to stop blaming others for what happened. Stop acting like children and sit down.”

  They all looked at me in surprise.

  “I mean it,” I warned.

  Micah took a seat. So did Kian. Lina opened her mouth to argue, thought about it, sat down, and returned to filing her nails.

  “That’s better,” I said and I joined Kian on the bed again.

  “We need to come up with a reasonable solution,” Micah said.

  “Killing sounds reasonable.”

  “No. And will you stop that. That damn noise is driving me crazy.”

  Lina waved her nails at Micah but at least she placed the emery board on the bed.

  It continued on like this for the next hour. I was getting sleepy. I couldn’t stop myself from yawning. I wasn’t the only one who found the back and forth banter tiring. At one point I was positive Seito fell asleep. Finally Kian shook his head in frustration.

  “Why don’t we ask Mai what she wants?”

  I was too surprised to answer. I honestly thought they’d all forgotten I was there.

  “They aren’t going to go away on their own, are they?” I asked.

  No one answered. That was pretty obvious.

  “They will eventually call for help,” Lina said. “They’ll contact the council and more Unfaded will show. More competent Unfaded.”

  “What happens then?”

  “We run,” Kian said. “Don’t look surprised, you knew from the beginning that it would probably come down to that.”

  “Why can’t we talk to the council?” I asked. “Can’t we plead our case?”

  “Oh, honey, they haven’t listened for five thousand years,” Lina said. “What makes you think they’ll listen now?”

  She had a point.

  “I want to learn how to fight,” I repeated again. “If I can learn to defend myself at least I’ll have a better chance.”

  Kian nodded. “We’ll start training tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll help,” Seito said. The statue finally came back to life.

  “I don’t know what to say then,” I said. “I agree with Kian. If we hunt them down then we’re no better than them. However, if they want to attack I don’t think we should hold back. I mean, all’s fair when it comes to battle, right?”

  “It’s not that simple,” Micah said. “People die in battle. Both sides. Innocent’s too.”

  I thought of all the people that could be in danger if we didn’t take action. All the people I loved. I didn’t want to disagree with Kian but I didn’t want to see my family and friends killed off one by one. I didn’t know if Anique and Sobek might not be so considerate. They hadn’t had much luck so far. They might start seeking revenge.

  “What about my friends and family?” I finally decided to ask the question that had been on my mind since the beginning. “Will they go after them?”

  “No.” Kian said at once.

  “I agree,” Lina said which had to be a first. “If they wanted to, they’d have all ready done that.”

  “It’s not their style,” Kian said. “Remember, they want to save humans. They have no real desire to kill them.”

  “But you said they killed my family before.”

  “It wasn’t Anique and Sobek. Other Unfaded might not be so picky but they are. I know them well. They’re stalling right now. Trying to tire us out. When they attack, it will be only you.”

  I was relieved to hear that. Well, about as relieved as I was going to get at this point.

  “If they disappear will that be it? Will I be safe?”

  “For the time being,” Lina said. “This town is pretty far north. I can’t imagine too many will come looking for you out here. We’ve got some spies in the council. We could alw
ays drop some hints that you’re in Mexico or Europe.”

  “That might work for a while,” Kian said. “But her powers are getting stronger. Soon it’ll be more obvious. They’ll start to sense her.”

  Lina nodded.

  “This is hopeless,” I said.

  “No, just one hell of a challenge,” Lina said. “But we’re all here to help. It’s better than nothing.”

  “Is this ever going to end?” I asked.

  “Sure it will,” Kian said. “It’ll end when you prove to the council that you’re not a threat.”

  “Or you end up destroying humanity.” Lina said. “Either way, we win.”

  * * *

  Kian drove me home with Lina and Micah following. They were going to take the night shift to make sure no one attacked while I slept. I wondered who was going to save them from each other.

  Seventeen

  “Bend your knees. No, not like that. Like this.”

  Kian stepped forward, holding a bamboo pole in his right hand, his knees spread apart and bent at different angles. I was trying to mimic his movement and not doing a very good job. I kept losing my balance. It was an unnatural stance and my leg muscles strained when I tried to hold the position.

  It was Saturday morning and I was getting my first lesson in self defence. We were in the parking lot of Ehnita Falls where Kian and I had our picnic lunch. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  It was the perfect place for a lesson. The day was sunny and bright, the snow was melting and there was no one around for miles. The mountains loomed in the distance with their snow covered peaks and green pine trees. We’d discarded our winter jackets on the picnic table and stepped out onto the lake where there was plenty of room to practice. Plenty of snow to soften our falls too, which I was steadily realising, was a big part of the learning process.

  “Ok,” Kian said. “I’m going to lunge for you again. Remember, step to the right, leg out, and forward momentum. You need to keep me moving in order to throw me down. And really try this time, don’t worry about hurting me.”

  I bent my knees the way he’d shown me and waited. It must have been an amusing sight. My sweats were covered in snow and I was thankful I’d thought to wear a pair of yoga pants underneath. At least this way I would manage to keep warm. Kian was fine, there wasn’t a flake on his entire body. I was the only one who kept taking the dumps into the snow banks. Seito was fine too. He watched from the sidelines, offering a bit of advice now and then.

  “Keep your arms out. It’ll give you better balance. Not quite like that. You’re defending yourself, not trying to take flight.”

  So far I wasn’t a very good student.

  Kian lunged and I stepped to the right, forgetting to stick my foot out to trip him. He caught my hands and spun me around, pushing my arm up behind my back and effortlessly capturing and forcing me to my knees. It was over in a matter of seconds.

  “I really suck at this,” I said.

  “Nah, you’re fine. Just need lots of practice.”

  We lined up again and he lunged. This time I managed to get my leg out while I stepped to the right. He simply jumped over my leg and went for my hands again. I was so surprised, I didn’t even try to resist as he pulled me down to the ground for what felt like the hundredth time.

  “No fair,” I complained as he pulled me back up. “I put out my foot.”

  “Yeah, like an elephant. You need to be quicker.”

  “Easy for you to say.”

  “You’ll get it,” Seito said as he came over to join us. Bending down, he picked up one of the bamboo poles lying on the ground. “Now step back and watch the pros.”

  I moved over to the picnic table and sat down as the boys took their positions. They both held a pole and Seito was showing off by lazily spinning his around like a giant baton. Kian made the first move, bringing his weapon down in a sweeping blow. Seito jumped backwards, blocking the attack, and soon they were moving back and forth across the ice in a display that would probably terrify most humans. The constant clacking of the poles echoed across the lake, sending birds flying from the trees. Try as I might, I could barely keep track of the poles as they swished through the air. It was like watching a martial arts movie on fast forward. They were both masters at what they were doing.

  Kian lost. He miscalculated a move and Seito had him looking up at the sky in no time. I was secretly thrilled to see his entire back covered in snow. It was a great form of revenge.

  They continued to spar for a while and eventually both of them were covered in the white stuff. When they came back to the table to join me, they were puffing and sweating in unison. Kian’s hair was covered in ice and he shook it all over my lap. Laughing, I pushed him away.

  “You’re both so good,” I said. “Of course you’ve got a lot of years over me. I’m sure I’ll be that good too once I hit at least seventy-five.”

  “Seventy-five hundred would be more accurate,” Seito said with a straight face. I tossed a snowball at him.

  Kian opened a bottle of water and took a long drink. There was coffee too, and I sipped some of it from a thermos cup. We stared out at the lake, enjoying the warm sun, recharging our bodies for the second round.

  It struck me that I was having a fantastic time. It was the first time in weeks that I hadn’t had to worry about someone. My family and friends were safe, Connor was probably moping around the house but I wasn’t going to think about that, and Kian was here with me and there was no one around to threaten us. Everything was all right, even if it was just temporarily.

  I wanted to freeze time and keep this moment forever.

  We ate lunch. This time I’d done the packing so there was no missing silverware. I’d gone through the fridge and found leftover roast beef to make sandwiches and I had a thermos of Marley’s famous homemade tomato soup. I’d made Kian stop at the gas station on the way so I could buy some chips and other assorted junk food. We had enough to keep us active for the rest of the day. And we were going to need it. This defensive stuff was hard work.

  “Did you ever teach me this stuff before?” I asked as I chewed on a piece of cheese.

  “This is a first,” Kian said. “But you’ve got to look back at history to understand. Fighting wasn’t really something women did. Most of the time they were busy wearing corsets and tiny shoes that didn’t fit properly.”

  “Oh, man,” Seito said. “I miss corsets. So sexy.”

  “And sexist,” I said, remembering when I was in the woods and I could barely breath. “They're so tight. No wonder women went around fainting all the time. Created by a man I might add.”

  “Smart man,” Seito said and Kian stifled a laugh by taking a sip of soup.

  “What about Unfaded women?” I thought of Lina and how she didn’t look like the type to go running from a fight.

  “It’s different,” Kian said. “Unfaded don’t have the gender bias that seems to follow the humans around. The girls are taught from a young age how to defend themselves. Everyone has been treated equally. But the women are often just as strong as the men. It’s not really the same with the human race.”

  “If I’m as strong as you then why do you keep kicking my ass?” I said.

  “Because you’re thinking like a human. It’s keeping your strength down.”

  “How do I think like an Unfaded?”

  “No idea. It’s something you’re going to have to figure out on your own. But you’re strong. We’ve all seen it. You must have tossed Anique a good five feet.”

  “Five feet’s nothing,” Seito said. “Wimpy by our standards.”

  “I’m going to remember that when we go back on the ice. You’re both going down. No more nice girl." I jumped up from the table. "Eat my snow!”

  “Good luck,” Kian said. “You’re going to need it.”

  “That sounds like a challenge if I ever heard one,” Seito said.

  “Yep,” I agreed. I stretched my legs in an exaggerated fashion. “Bring it on.”
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  We wandered back out onto the ice and I immediately fell into the position Kian had been trying to teach me all morning.

  To fight like an Unfaded, I was going to have to think like one. I took a few deep breaths and tried to forget everything I knew about being a human girl. I reminded myself that I was just as strong and fast. The boys were both right. I had knocked Anique back when I’d reacted without thinking. I could do that again.

  Kian was grinning at me. “I’m not going to go easy on you,” he said.

  “Good.”

  Without warning, he lunged. I sidestepped to the left because it felt more natural. Throwing my foot out, it connected with his knee. I yanked my leg backwards, dragging him along, pressing both my hands against his shoulders and shoving as hard as I could. Kian went flying through the air, hitting the ground on his side. I don’t know who was more surprised. I stood there gaping while he climbed to his feet.

  “Wow,” Seito said. “I think she’s got it.”

  I couldn’t help myself. A big grin broke out on my face. “Again! Let’s do it again.”

  We did. I wasn't as lucky the second time around. It was me who ended up in the snow, spluttering as bits of ice went up my nose.

  We continued on for most of the afternoon. I’d like to say I managed to toss Kian a bunch of times but I only managed to do it twice more. It didn’t really matter. He was right. I was getting faster and definitely growing stronger. All I needed now was the practice. Kian and Seito were more than willing to help in that department.

  “Let’s do it again tomorrow,” I said at the end of the day.

  “We’ll see,” Kian said. “I don’t know about you but I think we’re going to be a bit sore after all this. I think It might be a good idea to take a break after your first day.”

  “Wimp,” I said.

  He chased me all the way to the car.