Nightmare Come True

**The Victor**

Aya lay awake as dawn crept into the room. She had dressed as fit for battle as she could manage. Her jeans were tight, but easy to move in. The tank top was the only shirt she had that wasn‘t baggy. She had her hair done back in a tight braid. She had also sharpened her dance sword with an oilstone on loan from the kitchen. It was a good imitation of a thin bladed scimitar, but built for gentle use. Janet’s archery brace was strapped to her right arm. It was poor protection, but better than nothing.
She silenced the alarm before it went off and got up. Clipping the nearly mock sword to her hip, she gathered her books and headed out.
She peered into the dining hall as she passed. James, a new haircut showing the stitches on his scalp, sat with his cronies, the jerseys they wore looking like some cultists’ robes. His back was to her and she rushed past before anyone could notice she wasn’t in uniform.
Landria was sleeping in the infirmary. The wound still filled the room with the scent of blood, but it was closed and healing. Aya hovered over the bedside for a moment.
‘Can I help you, miss?’
Aya jumped out of her skin, hand coming down to the sword. It was only a day nurse.
‘I’m just checking on my friend. Will she be alright?’
The nurse nodded, ‘She’s going to be fine. We’re going to give her a few days to mend and then maybe let her out.’ The nurse padded over and checked something on the clipboard next to the bed. ‘Do you know how she got such a wound?’
Aya shook her head.
The nurse frowned. ‘Is the other boy a friend of yours as well?’
Aya tipped her head, concealing surprise.
‘He was quite amazing. He came in last night with a nasty whack to the head. Seemed frazzled.’ The nurse bit her lip, ‘He kept saying something about being attacked by a vampire.’ Now she chuckled, ‘He kept shouting ‘I an organ’ all night.’
‘I saw him in the dining hall. He was cleared?’
The nurse nodded, ‘He had it all together this morning, and without any signs of further injury, we couldn’t keep him here against his will.’
Aya nodded, ‘Thanks.’
‘Anytime.’ The nurse waved at her as Aya left

‘Miss Morgan, a moment after class, if you please?’
Aya waited in her seat after the bell rang. Lanning shuffled a few papers as the last stragglers filed out of the room.
‘May I ask why you are dressed as you are?’
Aya shrugged, ‘I just wanted to dress a little more casually today.’
Lanning nodded. Then pointed to the sword, ‘Do you usually wear that casually?’
Aya didn’t reply, but fingered the hilt nervously.
Lanning rubbed at the bridge of her nose, ‘I am very concerned about you, Miss Morgan. Your attention has been unusually wane today and your other behavior seems anxious at best.’
Lanning stood and walked toward her, ‘Jumping at every shadow to pass the door… I can understand you’ve been through a great deal the last few weeks, what with a likeness of you appearing in a painting, being involved in that fiasco in the library, and then finding Miss Lancaster as she was…’
Lanning sat on the desk ahead of Aya and rested a hand on her shoulder, ‘Perhaps you should take a few days to gather yourself. I can have your other instructors gather the necessary work and I will deliver it to you.’
She gave a motherly smile and a reassuring squeeze, ‘I can appreciate how trying these past events have been on you.’
Aya nodded, ‘I’ll finish today and think about it, Headmistress. Thank you.’
‘And for Pete’s sake, child.’
The girl looked back at the woman.
‘When I asked you all to become more familiar with your props, I didn’t mean to carry them about with you. Though you wear it well, please leave it in your room during class.’
Lanning almost chuckled, ‘We don’t need any swashbuckling in the halls.’
‘Very well, Ma’am.’ Aya bowed, ‘I shall contain my swashbuckling to the grounds and dining hall.’
Aya had her psychology class next. Then lunch. She would head for her room during lunch. And maybe take headmistress Lanning up on her offer…
The bell rang as she was pushing open the door.
Silence reigned the moment the door opened. No shouting. No talking. No demands of the class to quiet down. A thick musk filled her nostrils, but she ignored it. Something burning in the science lab next door.
Aya spotted the professor sitting on his desk, hands before him. He looked at her with an expression of warning, but didn’t move.
Looking around the room, all the students sat at their desks, heads down, and hands over their heads.
Trying to be silent, lest she disturb the experiment, Aya let the door close behind her, trying to mouth her apology.
‘Good afternoon, Aya Morgan.’
Aya dropped her bag at the sound of the voice from the corner of the room.
The heads turned in tiny increments as the students that dared to look watched Aya.
Aya looked back. James had stood behind the door, another chromed revolver in his fist. And this time, he was too far away to grab.
‘You will not escape me this time. I will send you back to hell!’ James leveled his aim and squeezed the trigger.
Aya ducked and kicked the door, launching herself away from the wall and rolling to her feet, running for the windows.
The pistol barked twice, tearing holes out of the door jam and a third time, breaking the glass ahead of the sprint.
Aya leapt, fists forward through the falling glass. The ground was a nearer than she thought and hit the downhill slope rolling.
James fired twice more as Aya rolled down the hill, head over heels.
Stopping after a few rotations, Aya sat splay legged as her head swam. Her sword gripped in her hand.
And a small, burning ring pressed against her neck.
‘Anymore antics will get your head blown off.’
James slowly circled around Aya. He held an aluminum bat, long nails driven through and barbed wire twisted around in his right hand, the pistol in his left. His off hand.
But it was still pointed at her head.
Aya rested back on her hands, letting her head loll, though it had cleared.
‘Say goodnight, bloodsucker.’ James slowly squeezed the trigger, a malevolent grin playing across his face.
Then the bat came around.
Aya blocked it with the sword sheath, the thin wood shattering.
Aya used the energy of the blow to roll over her back and to her knees. She blocked again. James had put both hands into this swing and she felt the impact jar her bones.
Aya leapt to her feet and pulled the remains of the sheath from the sword, throwing them at James.
He blocked the debris and came after her with a powerful war cry.
The mock sword cried out again and again as the weapons clashed. James was swinging wildly, each blow being parried, but he was never quite off balance.
Aya gave ground, step by step, unable to match the strength being thrown at her.
A high strike forced Aya to drop to one knee and a boot rushed at her from beneath.
Taking the hit to the jaw, she was sent flying.
Blood trickled from the corner of her eye where a vein had burst and her teeth were covered with her own blood. James quickly climbed to his feet, and swung again. Aya rolled as the bat crushed deeply into the grass. Another kick sailed wide and Aya smashed the pommel of her sword into the back of his knee.
James fell as Aya stood.
The boy was quick to rise and Aya took the offensive. Her slashes were careful, aiming for his open guard. She switched hands as she pressed on.
She let the blade slide off of the bat when she struck it, but when he fell into a feint, she laid all of her might into a slash on his side.
The edge, jagged and blunt from the many blows it had taken from the bat, tore his jersey and drew blood.
James roared in pain and swung back in recoil. Aya ducked and drove her fist under his jaw. He lifted up and collapsed.
‘Did you see that! She just picked him up!’ Aya looked back. James’s followers were behind her, as were several other students.
‘His feet were off the ground!’
James groaned and Aya turned her attention back to him. He was climbing to his feet, a look in his eye that burned with the fires of hell.
‘Die BITCH!’ He lead with a powerful swing form over his head.
Aya whipped to one side, the tip of the bat chasing her.
It raked down her leg from the thigh down. Aya crushed the pain under a wave of will and brought her other knee and her elbow together over James’s chest. He crackled like a handful of twigs and Aya felt ribs fracture before he fell.
James rolled over, the forgotten revolver in his hand. One last bark of thunder ripped through the air and Aya felt the slug rip through her. The hit was shallow and missed the bone, but she was still shot.
She fell as her leg shrieked in pain. Blood ran and Aya clutched the wound as tightly as her sword.
James was caught in a coughing fit.
‘GET AWAY!’ His shout drove what little wind he’d regained from him and he coughed anew.
Aya rolled over and pushed herself up. Her legs both quivered at the thought of trying to get up and she vomited.
Ragged breathing came toward her and Aya could only tense as a heavy boot connected. Another kick landed in the bullet wound.
Aya cried out, in tears and in agony.
‘Cry bitch! May the Devil treat you better!’ The bat landed on her belly.
Aya blocked with her arms as he aimed for her chest. Blood ran freely, but his swings were weakening. The broken ribs hurt him badly.
‘Now go to Hell!’ James brought the bat down at her head. Aya let her arms take the blow and grabbed the bat. She pulled, then shoved. The pommel of the bat hit James in the chest and he wheezed as blood dripped from his lips.
Aya climbed to her hands and knees before another bat blow to the back shook her, but lacked the power to put her down.
James began to wheeze and hack. Aya stood, her legs both moaning in protest. She grabbed her sword and stood before James.
‘If you don’t stop, you will die.’ Aya pleaded with him as he straightened, ‘Please, stop…’
‘Only you,’ he replied, his voice gravely, blood drooling from his mouth, ‘will die…’
He raised the bat high and brought it down.
Aya caught the strike and rolled it away. She passed the sword behind her back and struck the back of his exposed knee.
James fell to kneeling, one hand in the grass.
Aya rolled the sword high…
‘I’m sorry…’
The last blow landed over the boy’s neck, near the base of his skull. The snap was like a marble breaking and James dropped, rolling onto his back as he fell.
Aya closed his eyes and watched as his blood stilled, the open wounds leaking and then slowing to an ooze.
The sounds of many people breathing came to her ears.
Behind her stood most of the school. The teachers at the front and Headmaster Motochu standing behind Parric and Thomas.
Thomas looked her over. ‘You’re bleeding, Lady Rose.’
Aya chuckled weakly and her sword slipped from her grasp. She wasn’t far behind the mock weapon as it landed with a soft thud on the thick, bloodstained grass.

Aya awoke gently. The sun was warm on her and the sweet smell of orange juice pulled at her parched tongue.
‘Hey Aya. I’m glad you’re awake.’ Aya looked over. Her father sat beside her, orange juice in hand. ‘You’ve got some explaining to do.’
Aya chuckled, ‘How long have you been here?’
‘A few hours.’ He ran one hand through his long, dark red hair. His sapphire eyes looked down at her. ‘I came as soon as they called me. Now what have you been up to? I want to hear it all from you.’
Aya struggled to sit up a moment before her father helped her. ‘Before I forget some more…’ He turned to the bedside table, ‘One of your friends dropped this off for you.’
It was an envelope sealed with wax. Aya carefully peeled the wax up. Inside were half a dozen postcards and a small scrap of paper.

Aya
I signed a set for you and Parric. You helped me with the last painting and the set is complete.
Thank you. Avalawen

The third was of Aya in her jeans and black tank top, sword in hand, standing over the fallen knight. His face was still deep in shadow, but the grass glistened with his blood. Aya was also wounded, but the bullet wound was all that was excluded, replaced with a wide slash that ran over the outside of her leg.
She tucked the cards away. She would explain them in their own time.
He rested back in the chair, ‘I’ve talked to the Headmaster, two other instructors, and half a dozen kids, and they all say the only place to get all the pieces is from you.’
Aya smiled. ‘Alright, but it is a long story and I’m not starting without a drink of that juice.’