Ruin

Seventeen

"Looks like we're early." Maria grins at me as we come to a stop in a patch of dead grass and dirt next to an old brick building with broken windows. "I know what we can do. We can practice."

My mouth, partially open as I stare up and down the old broken and burned building, snaps shut as I turn to her and raise my hands between the two of us. "I don't know how to fight. I have no reason to."

"You had no reason to. Before. But here you need to know how to defend yourself. Look, it's really easy. I promise. I'll just teach you the weak points and how to get at them and we can go from there, okay?"

I shake my head, but she grabs me by the arm and pulls me away from the building and the shade and into the sunshine. We stand at the back of some sort of industrial building with broken out windows and boards nailed up on the inside. The building is abandoned according to Maria, though it still tells tales of the Revolution thirty years ago. Some of the boards hang down, others have rotted away. At some point, people probably tried to hide out in this building, but if the destroyed front is any indication, they weren't able to hold out indefinitely.

Maria smacks me in the arm. "Pay attention to me."

I turn away from the building and look directly at her as she spreads her feet and balls her fists in a move so smooth she hardly seems aware of it.

"Good. So look, there's three spots you can hit a person that will make them think twice about attacking you. Throat, eyes, and crotch. Most of the guys around here are going to protect their crotch for all its worth though, so you'll only get them if they aren't expecting it. Best thing to do it hit them in the throat, then they can't breathe and you can kick them in the crotch right after."

I shove some strands of hair back and scratch my head. "What if they're tall?"

Maria stops and stands up. "What? What does that have to do with anything? Everyone is going to be taller than us. We're short."

"You're short. I'm average. How would I reach their throat?"

She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Or whatever. The important thing is to just fight, but not flail around doing nothing. Unless that's part of your strategy and you plan on surprising them."

"What if there's more than one?"

"Paula." Maria tilts her head and eyes me. "You're not taking this seriously."

"I am." But even as I protest, I know she's sort of right. I don't really want to play practice fighting with her, not when she so easily falls into a fighting stance. "They're valid questions." And they kinda are too. Most of the people I've seen travel in groups. Even if they came across one lone little Neutral like me, I'm sure they'd still all come at me, not take turns.

"Then you've got to be smarter than them. Find a way to get one alone and escape if you can. You can't give in or give up. And never give ground or let yourself be herded. You have to fight. That's the only way you're going to make it."

I look to the broken building. What chance do I have as a lone human when a group couldn't even defend themselves with the benefit of a strong building around them?

There's a slight movement at the side of the building that draws my attention. Green eyes meet mine right as he stops to lean against the building with his arms crossed. There's something different about Alex this time as he rests so casually, and when I notice it, my breath catches in my throat. He's shirtless. His long torso curves slightly as he leans, the wiry muscles stand out against his tanned skin. On his chest is the most surprising tattoo-- a tiger with eyes that look faintly colored.

Right away my face flushes, the heat from the midday sun suddenly making beads of sweat appear on my face in the most unattractive of places as my entire face becomes hot up to the hairline on my forehead. I glance at Maria who follows my gaze and looks annoyed before she looks back and sees my face. Then she barks out a laugh before she has a chance to even think about it. After the first one, she covers her mouth and apologizes to me. "I'm sorry. But your face is so red."

I will it to go away, but that seems to only make it worse. And then Alex shoves off from the side of the building and comes towards us. My hands rise to cover my embarrassingly bright cheeks, but it's not enough. There's no way I can hide my entire face from view.

Alex stops at a respectable distance, but I can feel his eyes on my face. I glance at him and catch his eyes a second before he smiles. "Your face is red."

Maria stifles another laugh behind her hand before she gets serious. "Bad, Alex. Not appropriate. I'm sure she knows her face is red without you telling her."

His smile dims a little and he actually looks a tiny bit confused at that almost like a frustrated kid. "I was just saying what I see."

Maria rolls her eyes. "You were not. You know she's embarrassed, and you're taking pleasure in it."

If I wasn't completely mortified before, I am now. I put my face in my hands and give it a rub. It can't get any worse than it is right now. "Please put a shirt on."

Maria laughs again, and Alex smiles as he gives a shrug. "I don't have one now," he says.

I cover my face with my hands again. Maria gives him a shove. "And who invited you? What're you doing here?"

"Kyrene said I could participate."

"Ah, Kyrene, of course. You two are screwing, then?"

"I've heard that is not an appropriate thing to ask."

"That means yes, doesn't it? She invited you to make Brandon jealous, I bet."

A third voice snaps off one word. "Maria." I look up and see a woman not too far off with a hand on her hip. She wears a tank top, pants cut off on the thigh, and an old pair of laced up boots, but she is gorgeous. No dirty, scruffy clothes, can hide it. Her dark hair, messily pulled back into a pony tail, doesn't even detract, it only adds. She is stunning.

"You're as inappropriate as Alex," she says with a scowl.

Behind her, Brandon clears his throat and swipes at his nose with his hand, but I catch the tiniest bit of a turned up corner of his mouth, partially hidden behind his fingers. He sees me and walks over right away to greet me and give me a hug as if he hasn't seen me in a while. And I guess he hasn't. It's been a week or two. It's so easy to lose track of time at Henri's house.

"Hey, are you okay? Glad he hasn't had you for breakfast yet." He ruffles my hair and pulls me away from Maria and Alex to the side of the building. "Really, how're things going? Are you okay?"

The sudden change in his voice, from friendly greeting and even teasing to suddenly serious has me worried. "I'm fine. Why? Has Henri said anything?"

"Mr. Smith in public." Brandon ruffles my hair again and then turns to face the others. "Let's start. Angel and Mitchell should be here soon."

Kyrene steps out with a smile at Alex. "C'mon. Let's go."

He glances at me and Brandon before he strides out of the shade of the building and a nearby tree and into the sunlight where Kyrene stands waiting for him with a smile over her shoulder. He takes his place in front of her, and she falls into a natural fighting stance, her body tight yet fluid.

"Just remember to keep it clean guys," Maria barks with a laugh as she takes her place next to me.

Brandon leans back against the wall of the building and crosses his arms, some of his hair falling over his eyes. His normally bright and friendly eyes squeeze narrowly as he watches the two of them facing one another. Most likely it's from the sunshine. I try to hold that thought and ignore his look, but I can't help wondering if Maria isn't right after all.

Alex stands with his back to us as he takes his position, bending his knees and spreading his feet, his hands hovering in the air in front of him as he watches Kyrene with her tiny little smile. On his back there is a long dark tattoo, the length of his spine. It looks like a long braid that tapers off just above his waistband. I choke on a bit of dust. Both Jimmy and Brandon have large tattoos. From what I know of the two of them, I'd guess it has to do with rank. But everyone here has similar tattoos except for Alex, and I wonder what it means.

Alex jumps at Kyrene who easily dodges him by dropping to the ground. The two move fast and kick up a lot of dirt. For each of his lunges forward, she finds a way to effectively dodge him, even almost twirling at one point like a dancer. If he's touching her, he's not having an effect on her, her soft chuckles the only indication that he's getting close to catching her.

Maria turns, and I look her way. Angel and Mitchell have shown up and just like Brandon, Angel's eyes are on the fight, almost mesmerized. He watches them closely even as he walks towards us with Mitchell.

"Wow, he's good. We've never seen Alex fight, have we?"

Brandon walks over to Angel. "I've seen him fight. And this is just play."

I shudder.

Mitchell steps past me and takes Brandon's place with a shy grin at me and Maria both. That's all that passes between us, a nod and a smile and then the three of us are back to watching Alex and Kyrene.

The two of them are completely unaware of us, but it seems they've moved just a bit farther away in their dance. Kyrene has become more aggressive, reaching out and touching him, redirecting him when he reaches out for her. In one instance, she runs her hand along his bare side as she side steps him. Her mouth moves, but the words don't travel. Whatever she's saying is just for him.

I glance over at Brandon and Angel, both still watching the fight with interest as if they were each dissecting it. Brandon looks up and past Angel who then looks over too. Two men round the corner, one of which I recognize right away. I take a step back and nearly step on Mitchell.

It's Jimmy and a tall blond man. He sees Brandon and smiles right away, reaching over to hug him.

Maria turns and looks at me with her brows furrowed as if she wants to escape and take me with her. "Shit. Aaron."

Kyrene, distracted by the new arrivals, stops for a second, and Alex taps her throat before he stands up to his full height when he notices the new comers. His eyes fall on me with that same look Maria has.

Everyone else turns towards the two new arrivals. Next to the tall blond, Jimmy gives a tiny shrug of his shoulders.

"He followed me home." Jimmy grins at all the eyes on him. "I couldn't say no.”