ok, this is unbeta'ed and only very recently finished. It's also one of the longest chapters in this story so far, as well as covering some of he largest spans of time (excluding omake)
Chapter 11 - Interlude - Emma
She stood at the mouth of the side street, almost an alleyway and shivered despite the sun shining high in the sky. Why was she even here, she couldn't remember what had drawn her back to this of all places. She'd not left the house in days, only leaving her bedroom to answer nature's call, barely eating. Her hair was a mess of scraggly, roughly shorn ends, her unmatched clothes over her odorous body. She'd only showered once since the attack, fear had gripped her as she undressed, the gangsters words haunting her.
No, being naked anywhere left her feeling vulnerable, weak, unsafe. She'd taken to barricading her door at night, the window bolted shut despite the summer heat. Standing out here in the bright sunny day felt cool in comparison to her bedroom, the air felt cleaner, fresher. It didn't make sense to her, that this place that looked almost normal should be where it happened. Shouldn't it look darker, or have some other sign showing the evils that had almost been done here? Where was the ominous music? Something, anything to differentiate it from any other place.
But reality remained stubbornly unbent by her thoughts, the sun still shon, seagulls squawked, life just carried on as it ever had. She continued to stare down the street, trembling slightly. One, two, three steps had her entering, walking down towards the site of the attack. She just knew she had to, that things would not get better until she did. This was so stupid, she turned around to head home when a figure stepped into her path.
"Takes some guts"
What?
"Coming back I mean, stupid as hell, but gutsy"
She stared at the dark skinned teen that stood in front of her, for a moment fearing she was ABB before logic overrode that thought, she wasn't asian enough to be ABB, then who? An image of a hooded hockey masked figure overlaid itself over the girl before her, the stance was the same, the way she held herself. Even her voice was similar. The words started to sink in, this was her rescuer, the one that had stood and waited, watched for however long. The one she'd thought was a ABB cape at first.
There was an echoing clap rolling through the alleyway, her hand stung and the dark skinned teen's face was turned to one side, eyes widening in shock and something else. It almost looked like admiration.
"I thought you were strong, now I know it"
~~~
"Who's the freak?"
She looked up from where she'd been opening and closing the butterfly knife, she'd been getting pretty good at some of the simpler opening flicks, but closing it smoothly still eluded her. An impressive opening was more important anyway. Halfway down the street the greenish tinge of Taylor's hair was obvious in the morning sun. She looked so young, happy and carefree, her tie dyed t-shirt nearly a full rainbow of colour, wrists covered in colourful and childish looking friendship bracelets.
No, no no no no, Sophia had that look, the same one she wore when looking at victims who didn't fight back, the same way she looked at prey. No, Taylor was strong, she'd been doing martial arts for as long as Emma could remember. But… She'd never really seen Taylor actually fight, she was always so passive. She'd just have to prove that she was strong, it'd be easy.
The sad, betrayed look stung, but Emma was sure that her best friend would forgive her soon, it wouldn't take long to prove that she was strong, couldn't take long at all.
~~~
The alley was clear, no one coming. She kept her eyes peeled from her shadowy perch, Sophia's hand crossbow clutched tightly. Sophia was interrogating the dealer they'd caught, all she had to do was make sure she wasn't interrupted, give her warning if someone came. Movement caught her eye, and her finger twitched convulsively in surprise.
A dull fleshy sound answered her motions, the handbow she held now unburdened by quarrel, it's string straight. The small man in red and green looked surprised, his mouth opened and closed around burbling bloody bubbles. A tiny fletched stick protruded from near the middle of his chest as he slid down the alley wall and slumped backwards, the tail end of the bolt standing like a flag from his chest.
She couldn't stop staring, didn't even move until Shadow Stalker gripped her shoulder, pulling her away from the grisly scene of her own making. Shit.. What had she done.. A friendly smile from Sophia calmed her, no, it was ok, she was a hero afterall, it was ok..
~~~
She hadn't done anything, hadn't shown the strength Sophia demanded to see. Taylor stubbornly refused to rise to the challenge they had set, almost ignoring them, making friends elsewhere in the school. No, she had to be strong, she just had to. Maybe… Maybe if they got some of the other girls involved, yeah, if Taylor couldn't make any other friends she'd have to show her strength.
Yeah, that short one, she looked more like the younger sister of a student would be perfect. Innocent looking, Emma had already seen her wheedle extra time on her assignments. She had a vicious streak too, her sharp tongue had brought Lizzy to tears all whilst keeping that sweet, innocent look on her face, like she didn't know she was causing offence. Yes, she'd be perfect. The teachers would never suspect sweet innocent Madison of anything.
~~~
It wasn't anything like on TV, just a small room with a couple of tables. The Judge asked if she swore to tell the truth, whilst holding a bible. He asked her a few questions about Sophia, Shadow Stalker, how long they'd known each other. Little things. It was easy, no one shouting, no loud exclamations, no banging gavel. It hardly felt like an official legal proceeding at all, more like a friendly chat with her agent or one of dad's work colleagues.
It didn't feel like a murder trial. She supposed it wasn't really, more a pre-trial something or other. Something that would let Shadow Stalker join the Wards, rather than waste away in Juvie. All she had to do was tell them what a nice, good person Sophia was, how she'd saved her life. She broke down slightly at the retelling. Sophia was joining the Wards. She'd gotten away with it, gotten away with murder.
~~~
The stink was terrible even through the bags, ugh, this was a terrible idea. But she had to know, somewhere along the line it had gone from getting Taylor to show her strength, to finding out how far they could push her before she struck back. It wouldn't be strength, even prey will lash out when backed into a corner afterall. Maybe this would be enough to make her lash out.
~~~
Emma watched from around the corner, waiting for just the right moment to walk past and comment, something witty maybe. She hadn't thought up anything yet, but she'd been getting better at off the cuff insults. Taylor had a look of distaste on her face as she approached the locker, entering her combination at arms length. She'd just started around the corner when Sophia stepped forwards from behind Taylor, a wicked smirk playing over her lips as she pounced on Taylor.
Or rather, tried to pounce on her, Taylor twisted as the extended arms touched her back, sidestepping the shove with ease. A heavy metalic bang announced Sophia's impact with the locker's frame. Taylor wasn't looking at Sophia though, instead she just stared at Emma with that same hurt, betrayed look. Incredulity had also leaked into her expression this time, she didn't bother closing her locker as she stalked off towards the front of the school. A flash of gold glinted from her neckline.
~~~
School had been different, the teachers keeping a closer eye on everyone. They'd had to scale back the work on Taylor, the teachers could ignore little things but the last prank had made them sit up at take notice. There'd been a special assembly where they'd been talked to about bullying, gangs and how to deal with peer pressure. She'd finally worked out how to get a reaction out of Taylor though, it was so simply in hindsight she could almost have slapped herself for not thinking of it sooner.
Maybe it was lingering respect for Annette that had stayed her hand before, it was afterall a family heirloom of some sort from what she recalled, maybe not terribly valuable, well unless it was made out of real gold. Getting to it had been a problem though, Taylor hadn't kept it in the gym lockers with her clothes during that class, nor was it in her book locker. At first she thought Taylor left it at home on the days she had PE, but that had been dispelled with a few careful observations.
Finding out where she had stashed it turned out to be harder, but getting it had been easy afterwards. Taylor entrusted it to Mrs Knott at the end of her computer class, a class neither Sophia, Madison or herself took with her. Had Mrs Knott taken it to the staff room, or kept it on her person it would have been harder to acquire, but she just stuffed it in the locking drawer of her desk.
Normally she'd not leave the classroom until after Taylor had come to recover her property, having a class to teach at the same time, or spending the time marking work. But that was easily overcome, Madison asking for help setting up a projector for a presentation had lured her out, Sophia kept watch on Taylor in the gym and Emma, well her job was easy, the keyway a cheap standard model that opened with two hairpins easily.
She swiped the bladed cross before relocking the drawer, it had taken her seconds to get it. This would get a reaction, make Taylor lash out for sure.
~~~
*CRACK*
Her head whipped round as she saw stars, fuck, it was easy to forget how damned strong Taylor was. She'd wanted her to lash out, to get a rise out of her, and she'd succeeded. Oww. Fucking hurt though.
~~~
The police had come, and escorted Taylor off school grounds… In handcuffs. She'd been subdued since the altercation, as if she couldn't believe she'd struck out, slapped her. Sophia had been furious, ranting to Emma about prey knowing their place. Yeah, she was right, Taylor should know better than to fight back. They'd have to show her. Well if she wasn't expelled.
~~~
It'd been weird, downright strange without Tayor at Winslow. So much of her day had been taken up sniping, or planning pranks that Emma found herself somewhat at a loss for what to do. Maybe they should test some of the other students, she'd have to talk to Sophia about that, see what she thought. It seemed like a good idea though, weeding out the weak from the strong, the Predator from Prey.
But Taylor was back today and they had something special planned. Madison had overheard Mr Gladdy talking about some makeup tests Taylor would be taking all day today, something to do with assignment irregularities in what she'd been handing in during her suspension. It didn't matter why they were testing her, only they it represented an opportunity to put her back in her place as Sophia said. Emma was conflicted, why couldn't Taylor be strong, why did she abandon her like this. She had to push more. The real Taylor would push back, know it was for her own good. She was sure of it.
Madison came out of the classroom, trailed closely by the school secretary a dark look on her face. What was going on, why didn't she had the tests? Her hands suddenly found themselves clutching nothing but air. No. Shit.
~~~
The temporary Principal wasn't intimidated by her father, hadn't buckled under his thinly veiled threats of legal action. She'd been deputy at Arcadia, some parents had tried using the court system to get their kids places there a few years ago, it'd been thrown out of court. Much like her own case would be if it ever came to that. Her father grudgingly accepted her punishment for her, shooting her a warning look when she made to speak.
A week's suspension wasn't that bad though, more like an extra holiday really.
~~~
She lay in bed looking at the pendant she'd taken from Taylor again, the bladed cross extending from a smaller golden sphere, a hollow circle halfway along the length of the bladed arms. She'd never really seen anything like it elsewhere, even checking online.
Sophia wanted to smash it, or melt it down and sell it, but she'd kept it instead. Guilt gnawed at her gut, she couldn't get rid of this, couldn't damage something Annette had given Taylor. She felt guilty for ignoring Sophia. She knew Taylor could be strong, she just knew it. That slap had proved it, hadn't it?
No, she couldn't damage it, couldn't sell it, she'd keep it safe. For Taylor, for when she was strong, strong like her. She stuffed the golden pendant back into it's hiding place.
"Don't worry Taylor, I'll keep it safe for you, please get strong, please"
Her eyes drifted closed as she dreamed of Taylor, her and Sophia, going out and beating up asians in Red and Green, a soft chime whispering through her darkened room.
: She wants Taylor to push back, but when Taylor slaps the taste out of her mouth, Emma doesn't acknowledge that as pushing back and still wants Taylor to push back... What exactly would Emma accept as Taylor legitimately pushing back? Taylor putting her in the hospital? Emma's definition of pushback seems to be as nebulous as the conditoons under which Global Warming/Climate Change might be disproven. Much like how every increase or decrease in temperature, as well as all anomalous weather phenomenon, are considered proof of the validity of Global Warming/Climate change by its supporters, every action Taylor does or does not take is considered by Emma as proof that Taylor is prey. Taylor completely ignores the Trio's attempts to bring her down: Prey. Taylor avoids Sophia's attempt to shove her into the Locker and slams the bitch into the frame in the process: Prey. Taylor punches Emma out: Prey. There is literally no condition under which Emma will accept that Taylor is not prey, despite her internal claim that such a condition exists.
