Bastien

"Crap," I whispered. The wall was flat three stories up. "It's okay, it's okay-" my mind ran a million miles an hour, frantic with all the ways this could go wrong, "I'll just give them my wallet," I said frantically, thinking as fast as I could, "maybe if we apologize... what are you doing?"

I stopped and stared at Rell as she kicked over a trash can, the lid spinning and crashing on the cement, trash falling everywhere. Then she picked up an old wine bottle, and smashed it against the wall. The sound of breaking glass echoed in the alleyway, the same moment a rumble of thunder boomed overhead, and the voices grew nearer.

She looked at the razor sharp ends and then lifted it. "We can take 'em." She planted her feet wide, staring around the corner.

I almost couldn't speak. Did they raise Amazons in Antarctica?

Then I heard the voices. They were almost here.

"Rell! Just put the bottle down! WE CANNOT TAKE THEM!! There's at least five of them and two of us."

"More glory for us!" She brandished the wine bottle, and then stepped in front of me as the men came into view. "Don't worry, I will protect you."

This was not happening.

This was absurd.

This was not real life. I'd been possessed, or drugged or...

Noise filled the alleyway, and at almost the same moment, the first drops of rain began to fall.

"There she is! Come on!" The men turned the corner, and I lifted my hands, fear twisting my stomach. What if they actually hurt her? "Listen guys, look, I'm sure we can settle this reasonably..."

But Rell didn't lower the jagged edged bottle, and the men didn't stop. I had only one card left to play.

"BACK UP!" To my surprise my voice echoed down the alleyway, powerful and deep. But it wasn't me the men were looking at.

It was the black gun clutched in my hands.

The men suddenly froze. "Hey we just wanted our money back..."

"I said back up!," I shouted, and then grabbed Rell with my free hand, who suddenly seemed disappointed we weren't about to get in a brawl.

I dragged her out of the alleyway, backing up from the men who glared at us but made no move to grab either of us.

"Get ready to run," I whispered to her.

"Why?" she whispered back.

"Cause this thing is fake," I threw the gun at the men, and there was one wild heartbeat where everyone stared at each other. Then I grabbed her hand, tugging her after me and we both sprinted back up the road.

Rell laughed, and together we ran through the first drops of rain. I'd never seen a girl run like her. It was like she got stronger with every stride. I almost wondered if she could outrun me. But even if she could, I knew this city better than her and wasn't about to get cornered again, so this time I led us down streets, through alleyways, splashing through puddles, running through crosswalks as the rain began to fall faster and heavier. Finally, when there was absolutely no way anyone could still be following us, I led us up to the awning under a bagels shop, its light casting a warm glow through the night.

I leaned back against the brick, my chest heaving up and down. Rell's breath also came heavy, my first proof she was actually human. The rough texture of the brick pressed into my back, and the end of my jeans were heavy and soaked, riding low. We'd made it just in time. The rain began to fall in sheets now, pounding away everything, spraying up from the cement, so that we both pressed closer, our bare arms just brushing as both our chests heaved, connected by the smallest of warmth between us.

I started to laugh.

My whole body shook as I threw my head back, unable to control the laughter the same way I couldn't control anything in my life. It burst out of me like the rain burst from the clouds, downpouring and unstoppable. I laughed with my whole body, and instead of looking at me like I was crazy, Rell started laughing too.

The light of the shop across the road cut through the night, like a beacon of warmth, but somehow, I didn't want to leave this spot. Somehow, soaking wet, muscles aching, I suddenly felt the most alive I'd felt in months.

"I can't believe you were going to fight them with a broken wine bottle!" I said, barely coherent at this point, not caring that this time tears were streaming down the side of my eyes.

"I can't believe they believe they were afraid of that small toy, " she said gleefully, "Fools!"

I laughed even harder, needing the release.

It was some time before we both quieted. The rain pounded out a music beyond our tiny refuge. When my chest finally stopped shaking, I stole a glance at her. She was still wore the same clothes she had the very first time I'd seen her, but they were soaked and plastered to her body, showing off her toned body and longlegs. Her hair was wild, and her head was tilted back, a musing smile on her lips. Her eyes met mine and I quickly looked away, embarrassed that I'd been caught and blurted out the first thing I could think of. "How come they were after you?"

"Oh..." She paused a moment, a bit of steel coming to her eyes. She reached into her jacket and pulled out an enormous wad of cash folded together with a rubber band.

I took the wad from her hand, my eyes growing wide when I felt how heavy it was. And then I flicked through the bills. It was filled with twenties and fifties. And hundreds.

Crap.

"They were making dogs fight each other..." she said, and this time her voice was angry. "I heard them calling out in pain... So I made sure they would never do it again." Her eyes flashed with a sort of white fury, and I had the sudden feeling that the men had gotten off easy.

Then she turned to me, her smile returning as she picked up the wad of cash and eyed it. "I had no idea they would chase me for this! Ha! Imagine, so much trouble for a bit of paper!" She laughed as if this were truly ridiculous, then tossed me the bundle.

"Here, you can have it."

I looked down at the giant bundle of cash. "What, no! I don't want it. You're the one who risked your life. You keep it."

"I don't need it."

"Please, keep it." I pushed it back into her hands, trying not to notice the way touching her sent warmth through my whole body. "You could buy some new clothes and supplies for school. I um— saw you don't have any."

Her eyes suddenly flicked up to meet mine in surprise, and I felt myself flush with shame. I'd heard the other kids at school make fun of her for wearing the same clothes every day, and I'd noticed she carried only a notebook a teacher had given her and pencils she found on the floor. She never complained, but now I felt like the world's largest ass for not even offering her my old backpack and a notebook.

Actually, I felt like an ass for a lot of things.

But she just looked up at me, as if trying to determine what exactly my gift meant, before she gave a small smile and took the cash back. "Okay. Maybe we can purchase some new weapons as well; your castle is woefully understocked."

I smiled, and shook my head. Was she joking? Why was it the second I thought I understood something about her, she surprised me yet again? "How about we start with some food. There's a pizza place right over there." The rain downpoured now, nearly drowning out my voice and running off the ledge above us, creating a shifting curtain between us and the outside world. I didn't push off the wall, Instead I looked down at my feet, the words suddenly feeling difficult to get out.

"Look... Rell... No one at school knows about my mom."

I was surprised when her hand reached out to touch my shoulder, and I looked up at her. God, she was beautiful.

"And no one will. I won't say anything." It was her time to look down at her feet. "It's not like there's anyone I could even tell."

She gave me a smile, but for the first time I realized; maybe her smile at school wasn't as real as I'd thought.

"Yah, well. I can help with that. Ivy and her evil clan have a gag order on the school. Nobody is supposed to talk to you. I... I'm sorry. I should have told her not to."

She only shrugged. "I've noticed that sometimes when a monster lashes out, it's because it feels threatened. Or because it's hurt. It's not personal, even if it feels that way."

I looked at her, not even sure what to say. Who was this girl?Why did Dasan think I needed to get to know her? Why would he risk it when he knew... knew that it was so much safer to push everyone away.

We both stared out into the rain, quiet for a moment, as if we both saw things in the darkness that we didn't want to name.

She turned to me, and I had the feeling, terrifying and thrilling, like she saw straight into my soul. "There is something nice about no one talking to you."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "And what's that?"

"It gives you the chance to watch and listen. And to see that you aren't the only one who's alone."

I turned to look into the rain, the pain cutting deep. "It's different. I choose to be alone."

"You aren't alone."

"Yes, I am," I whispered.

"No you aren't. I'm standing right beside you."

I shook my head, unable to stop the laugh that escaped. "You are the strangest person I've ever met Rell."

She gave me a half-smile, "Is that a good thing?"

"Depends... do you have any weapons on you currently?"

She tilted her head back and laughed, and I smiled, something warm in me rising. Her breath made a white fog that hung between us.

"We should make a run for it. It'll be warmer inside." I gestured towards the light of a pizza parlor down the street.

"Alright." But she didn't push off or charge into the rain. Instead she turned to me, her eyes locking on to mine. And it was in that moment that I realized I didn't hate her anymore. Actually, I couldn't really remember why I hated her in the first place. She stepped closer to me, all the way up to me so that our breath mingled.

"Despite all your efforts, Bastien, I've decided I like you."

Her words had a strange effect on my body. Without meaning to, my eyes flicked to her lips.

Then she grinned, pushed off the wall, and ducked into the current of rain, running towards the pizza shop. I watched for a long moment before I followed, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to figure out how exactly we had gotten to this point.

It wasn't so much that something had changed, so much as there was suddenly something physical and electric, some force that drew me into the rain after her.

Something that wasn't there before.