(no subject)
Chapter 10
I woke up two nights later to the shrill sound of someone screaming. Leaping out of bed, I raced across the hall, slamming into Will as I did. At the same moment, we figured out that it was Alex, and both of us skidded into her room, everyone running out to follow us. I made it to her bed first and shook her awake. Her eyes sprang open, looking at me blankly for a moment before she started screaming again.
"ALEX," I shouted, trying to keep her from hurting herself.
"STOP IT," she screamed, kicking Will.
"OW," he whined, because Alex still had a mean kick.
She started screaming again just as Melissa came running in.
"OK EVERYBODY OUT!" she shouted, leaping onto the bed. We all immediately rushed out and let the door close behind us. A few other masters were out in the hallway with Ty, eyeing Alex's door warily.
"Uh," I said, breaking the silence that we had all lapsed into. "Does...anyone want something to drink?" I asked lamely, rubbing some sleep out of my eyes. Everyone just kind of looked at me before Matthew broke away from the crowd and started herding me toward my bedroom. I was far too tired to protest, so I allowed him to open my door and walk me over to bed, but I drew the line when he tried to shove me in.
"I can do it myself," I grumbled, turning around.
And then, suddenly, Matthew was knocking my feet out from under me and catching me as I fell. Quickly, of course.
I screamed quietly.
"Matthew-EEK!" I squealed as he tossed me onto my bed. Not very nicely, either. "Matthew!" I whined. He smirked at me and I pouted.
"Must you THROW me?" He smirked a bit more before climbing in next to me. When did my mattress become communal ground?!
"You're such a perfect throwing weight, though," he said. "Like training."
I frowned. "...Thanks?"
"No problem."
We were silent for a minute.
"...So dream manipulation," I started, looking away as he hadn't actually ever mentioned this to me.
He looked sharply at me, scowling again.
"What are you talking about?" he growled.
"Dream manipulation. You said it to Ty and it's definitely what happened to Alex and I." Probably.
"Says who?"
"Says....YOU SAID IT." I made a face at him and he finally sighed.
"Fine. Dream manipulation is a form of magic which...manipulates dreams." He frowned. "..What do you want me to tell you?"
"...Can they read my mind?"
Matthew shook his head. "No, it's not that they're manipulating your thoughts, it's more that they're...putting the thoughts they want you to have into your head."
"So what happens if I'm dreaming?"
"..What do you mean?"
"Well, does it just interrupt my dream or could the manipulator incorporate his dream or...something."
"A strong manipulator could probably see your dreams vaguely. But an average one would have to place his dream in your head blindly."
I nodded.
"So, do you think this dream manipulator is strong or average?" I asked after some speculation.
"Strong," he answered immediately.
"How can you tell?"
He lifted my hand up. "Think about the dream," he said.
Yeah, because that is REALLY what I wanted to do when I intended to go to sleep in a few minutes. Sighing, I did so.
"Are you thinking about it?" he asked after a minute. I nodded. "I mean really thinking about it. Recall details."
"...I don't WANT to," I said, frowning. His grip on my hand tightened. "Ow, stop!" He tightened it more, his fingernails pricking my palms. "Matthew-" And then, as the dream came flooding back, I realized what he was doing. My hands, where I clawed at the door, started to ache; my stomach, where I was stabbed, started to hurt; and the eyes came back.
"Stop," I whimpered and, immediately, his grip loosened and he laid down, curling himself around me until I stopped trembling.
"That's how I know," he said and I was surprised to find that his mouth was so close to my ear. I nodded and clutched his hand tighter, pulling myself closer to him.
"Ow," I said quietly.
"Shh," Matthew said soothingly, rubbing my hand with his thumb.
"Now you can't leave," I half-wailed. And I'd really, really wanted to have my own bed to myself tonight.
"I won't," he said. "Go to sleep."
"Is Alex ok?" I mumbled.
"She'll be fine by morning. Melissa's going to stay with her."
"Good."
****
And Alex was fine by morning. A bit bleary eyed and grumpy, but altogether, alright. She, like me, however, did not mention her dream at all. The only abnormal thing she did was give Aaron a big, fat hug when he came down the stairs. He looked a bit surprised, but pleased as he went to get himself breakfast.
As soon as we got to training, Melissa grabbed Alex and dragged her off. Everyone else's masters soon did the same until it was left with just me and Lucy.
"This is weird," I said.
"Yeah. Usually, Matthew's the one waiting," she agreed as we sat.
We spent ten entire minutes discussing how odd this occurrence was before Matthew and Leo finally showed up.
"Where have you BEEN?" Lucy asked Leo as we stood. He ruffled her hair.
"Doing important things," he said, grinning roguishly.
I looked at Matthew as he walked over. "Were you-"
"I was trying to wake Leo up," he interrupted me, giving me a warning sort of death glare.
"Why were you sleeping?" Lucy asked him, wrinkling her nose.
"Because I was tired," Leo whined, pouting at us all. Lucy giggled and he grinned again. "Come on, sweet cheeks." Sweet cheeks? "We've got work to do."
With a cheerful wave, Lucy skipped after Leo as he led her off. Matthew turned to me, as there was no one else there, and sat. So, naturally, I sat next to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.
"Were you trying to find the dream manipulator?" I asked. He nodded.
"Ty put Leo into an enchanted sleep, hiding his master abilities, but not his magic. But the dream manipulator was strong enough to detect it, I guess. Either that, or he wasn't paying attention." He chuckled darkly.
"Which is more likely?" I asked.
"At the moment, it could be either. I hope it was the second, though. If it's the first, he knows that we're onto him, which will make things a lot more difficult."
"How come Lucy couldn't know?"
Matthew hesitated. "We're not supposed to tell any of you."
"Because..you don't want to scare us?"
"We don't want you targeted. Once you know that your dreams are being manipulated, it's easy for you to start fighting back, even if it's subconscious, which it usually is. And with a strong manipulator, he'll know. And I doubt he'll like that."
I frowned. "So...would I be fighting back?"
"I wouldn't worry about it. He already got to you. It's the others that Ty's worried about."
"Ooh," I said, nodding. Matthew nodded along with me and then stood up. Couldn't he have just stayed standing earlier?
"Come on, idiot," he said, fists on his hips. Sighing, I stood.
"What?"
"We're punching today."
I frowned. "But. It's a magic lesson day..."
"You need to learn how to punch. Soon."
"But why?" I whined. I really, really, really hate fist fighting.
He gave me a Look that was quite frightening and I gulped. "You. Just. Do."
"Ok," I said quietly and took the stance. He went back to being moderately frightening as he came to stand in front of me.
"Ready?" he asked, smirking wolfishly. I eyed him warily.
"I guess."
How very wrong I was.
******
My whole body aches. Everywhere. Even the insides of my ears hurt from moving too much. Matthew worked me through three different sparring routines alternately for four hours. He taught me how to block, jab, and punch and made sure that I could at least punch his hand hard enough to bruise my own. He only released me after four hours because I begged. He had to bring me to the second floor of my house so that I didn't have to walk up stairs to get to the shower.
AND I AM SUPPOSED TO GO ON A DATE TONIGHT. WHAT DO I DO IF I CAN'T MOVE?
Maybe if I put on a sexy outfit, Steve won't notice that I'm walking like a penguin. That's a good plan.
I lurched into the shower and stayed there for a good forty-five minutes. I felt much, much better after getting out, but fell asleep naked in bed, covered in my towel, as soon as I sat to put underwear on.
Guess who woke me up. Go on. Guess.
"IDIOT!" Matthew roared and I shot up, clutching the towel to me.
"AHH WHAT?!" And then I realized that I was naked. "TURN AROUND."
But I really didn't have to shout, as he had his back to me already. I scrambled about until I was firmly under the covers. "What do you want?" I squeaked.
"I was checking up on you," he growled, turning around.
"...Why did you have to wake me up?!"
"You looked like you'd passed out." He actually looked mildly sheepish.
"Well...turn around again," I grumbled. He obediently did so and I managed to put on underwear and got out of bed, reasoning that he had seen me in my underwear before, when I was injured. "Ok. Safe." He turned back around, but didn't look at me.
I walked over to my closet and started flipping through.
"Since you're not leaving, you can help me," I said.
"Help you?" he asked, sounding wary. Good. Be nervous.
"Mmhmm," I said, then winced because my arms were starting to get sore. "I'm going on a date tonight."
I heard him backing away.
"No," he said firmly. "I'm not a woman. I can't help you with anything."
I pulled a black dress out. It was kinda short, but not so short that I couldn't walk in it without fearing for underwear exposure. And the front was ribbed, so I could look super skinny. Sweet. "Yes, you can." Holding it against me, I turned around. "Is this sexy enough to divert attention away from my various muscle spasms?"
He looked like he was having some muscle spasms of his own as he cleared his throat to answer. "I don't know."
I frowned. "Matthew, you're not helping. YOU injured me, YOU need to fix my problem."
"What problem?"
"I'M GOING TO LOOK LIKE A DUCK AND IT'S YOUR FAULT SO MAKE ME LOOK GOOD ENOUGH THAT STEVE WON'T NOTICE."
"Is that his name?" Matthew asked, instead of responding. Jerk.
"..YES, THAT IS HIS NAME. HOW DOES THIS DRESS LOOK?"
"Fine," he said, shrugging.
"Can you tell that I have injuries?"
"...I can."
"YOU'RE NOT HELPING."
Suddenly, Lucy opened the door.
"Rose, who are-." She squeaked as she saw Matthew and I, having been startled by the opening of the door, fell into my closet with a shriek.
"Owwww," I moaned, having angered my aching muscles. Matthew didn't move, but Lucy rushed over.
"OHMYGOSHROSEAREYOUOK?!" she squealed, trying to help me up.
"Please leave me here," I said piteously. "I can't move."
"...Why not?" Lucy asked, peering at me.
"Ask him," I said darkly, pointing at Matthew. Lucy turned around as if to do just that, got intimidated, and looked back at me.
"Well. I'll let you continue on..." she said, laughing nervously.
"Wait!" I said, holding up the dress.
"Oooh," she said, before I even had to ask. "Cute." And then she left and shut the door behind her.
Tossing the dress in my bed's general direction, I looked up at Matthew.
"Help."
Sighing, he walked over and started digging me out of the pile of clothes that had fallen onto me before hauling me up roughly [which hurt] and carrying me over to my bed, throwing me on it. Which also hurt.
"STOP TRYING TO KILL ME," I whined, standing up and getting the dress off the floor. He smirked as I started pulling it on. But that hurt, too, and, almost immediately, he was helping me with it.
"Lie down face down," he growled once he had gotten it on and I was near tears. Happy to oblige, I did so and he immediately straddled my thighs. I really hoped that no one walked in.
"What are you doing?" I mumbled, not exactly caring. Without answering, he started kneading my muscles, working out the ones in my shoulder and moving down until he was working on my back and then my legs. By the time he finished, I was half asleep and really didn't want to move.
"Get up," he ordered.
"No."
"Macallis..."
"No."
"Idiot." He sounded very growly that time. I whined.
"I'm comfortable."
"I don't care. It's almost 6:30."
I leaped out of bed, then.
"WHAT?"
"It's almost 6:30," he repeated, looking amused. I dashed over to my dressed and started frantically trying to do SOMETHING with my hair. Matthew watched, chuckling a bit.
"Why don't you LEAVE instead of LAUGHING AT ME?" I snapped, whipping out a flat iron.
"I have nothing better to do." He shrugged. I scowled.
"Whatever."
After my hair was nice and straight, I hunted for Lucy's little black bag and started shoving things in it. When I finally finished that, found shoes, and was preparing to leave, Matthew was leaning against the door frame.
"What?" I asked, exasperated.
"Don't get home late. You have A LOT of work to do tomorrow, idiot."
I frowned. "Work in WHAT?"
"Punching. You still can barely hit."
"...Don't I get a break for being KILLED today?!" I half shouted. He shook his head, scowl in place.
"You need it, idiot."
"For WHAT?!"
He glared at me before disappearing. Just disappearing!
"SCREW YOU," I shouted at the ceiling.
"ROSE, YOUR DATE," Lucy suddenly squealed, skidding into my room. I almost tripped over my shoe in my haste to follow her out and down the stairs.
"Ooooh," said Will as we both continued to skid into the kitchen. "Hot date?"
"Kind of," I said, taking my shoes off as I sprinted out the back door.
"Good luck!" Lucy called after me. I definitely needed it. This running thing was killing me. After a couple yards, I had to start reciting poetry I still had memorized from school to keep me going. Finally, I reached the boardwalk. Ducking behind a popcorn stand, I put on more deodorant and my shoes, brushing my hair. Luckily, I wasn't too sweaty.
I just wasn't sure whether or not I could move.
Which, you know, could be a bit of a problem.
I finally gathered up the courage to lurch out of the popcorn stand and look around for him. Upon discovering that he wasn't there yet, I decided to look for a bench and sit, which I did and almost dozed off.
But I was startled awake by someone calling my name. I didn't recognize the voice, so I tried not to react, just in case it was an enemy or someone calling someone that wasn't me.
After I heard it several times, though, I placed the voice with the man stumbling in my direction.
Who just so happened to be Steve.
I stood up and walked over to him and he gave me a sloppy grin.
"I didn't think ya heard me," he said, leaning down to give me a kiss [I think] and missing. After two more tries, he got my cheek and I got a whiff of his breath.
"...Hi," I said, eyeing him.
"Haaaaay!" he said, long and drawn out. "Let's jus' go back t' my place. How ‘bout it?"
I looked at him. "You're drunk," I said flatly.
"No, m' not. Jus' ‘appy t' see you." And then he tried to kiss me again. I leaned out of his way.
"How about we reschedule?" I suggested, intending to block his phone number.
"Noooo!" he wailed, grabbing my face and actually kissing me. I yanked myself away from him, stepping back.
"Stop it. Just go home. Please?" I was trying not to send him into a drunken rage.
He reached his hand out and grabbed mine. "Come on, thass where we're goin'." I pulled away.
"No! Go away!"
And then, as he reached for me again, I did something amazing. I curled my fingers up, thumb on the outside, drew my arm back, and punched Steve square in the nose.
For a moment, he stood there, dumbfounded, and so did I.
"...FUCK," he finally shouted, loud enough that passing mothers turned and stared disapprovingly. "What the FUCK was that for, you BITCH?" More staring.
"HA!" I crowed, beaming. "I PUNCHED YOU PROPERLY! SUCK IT, MATTHEW."
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Steve shouted. "YOU BITCH."
Ignoring the fact that he was still trying to grab at me and that I was sore everywhere, I turned and started to walk away.
That's right, Matthew.
I punched him.
And I did it well.