What sadistic woman is this?
One Street Light Over
Love can be found in the weirdest of places, like in your enemy.
I tightened my grip on my umbrella and stared at the scene before me. The rain pattered down like a violent temper tantrum. It was already late as it is, and now the rain had picked up with a vengeance.
I had spent some time at my school, Overton High, working on a last-minute scheduling for the discipline committee. They needed to enforce some more rules because the undisciplined were getting out of hand. It was their duty to see that people arrived on time and followed the laws of the school. Without rules, we would be like animals on the street.
I had forgotten the time, and when I checked, it was three in the morning. I knew that it was raining before, so I had packed my umbrella; I was hoping to reach home before the storm really hit. “There goes that plan.”
I took a small step forward but then stopped when a man slid to my feet. He was out cold and had some bruises on his face. He was a classmate of mine, but he was no friend. His name was Wayne, I believe. He and his buddies would bully people around the school, taking money from other students so they could get some smokes. They were pretty terrifying guys, but they were not as frightening as her.
I looked up to see the Demon of Sunset standing breathing heavily in her black trench coat. She had long black hair that stretched down to her back, and her leather gloves dripped of rain and blood. Two more bodies lay around her. One of them had been smashed into the concrete wall that stretched down the street.
A legend that I had heard so much about and was more surprised that someone as violent as her was going to my school. There was a rumor going around about how the mafia had gotten involved with her, and she was subjected to harsh training. Another rumor was that she dismantled a single car with one punch. But rumors are rumors.
Yet if you look hard enough and sift through the dirt looking for the gold, you’ll learn that she had saved a lot of people and was being treated like a hero. Cold, collected, and fierce, those were her traits when you saw her, an unpredictable force wiping out the evils in this city—the people’s vigilante.
“What are you looking at?”
I looked around me to see who she was talking to. She had never approached me before, and I had never approached her. In a sense, we were doing things for the good of the people but in two different ways. I disapproved of her, so there was no need to meet.
“I’m talking to you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you got a problem with that?”
“Yes, I don’t talk to trouble makers,” I said, stepping over Wayne and heading in the direction of the Demon. My house was a couple of blocks down the street, and I wasn’t about to take the long way around. I had rights, and she wasn’t going to scare me off. But I’m not going to lie; I was pretty nervous.
As I was passing her, she put her hand out before me.
“We need to talk,” she said, staring at me with sharp eyes that cut the rain that fell between us. “I’m not going to take no for an answer.”
“That’s not good. Did she get wind of the scheduling for the discipline committee?” One of the major things was to crack down on fights and bullying. It was my way of slowly putting her out of business. We don’t need heroes. We need leaders to enforce the rules. Only by enforcing them do we get justice.
I smiled and gently pushed down her hand. “Right, well I-,”
Before the words left my mouth, I was darting down the street. As much as I believe in my beliefs, I don’t have the confidence to fight against such a monster. With no witness, I wasn’t planning to get into a fight I can’t win. All those push-ups I did in my room were useless in the presence of real strength. She grasped my arm. “Shit.”
I flailed around to get away, which was countered by a sweeping low kick that spun me around and brought my back to the wet asphalt. A shock shot through me. “My laptop,” I thought. I struggled up but was pushed back down by her foot that rested on my chest. She wore black leather boots that had some blood on them.
I looked up to see her holding my backpack. She had removed it as I fell.
“You don’t mind, do you,” she said, putting it on and then mounting me. If this were any other girl, I would be having the time of my life right now, but it’s not.
I rested my body and didn’t even bother resisting. It reminded me of a fight I had been in years ago. Some guys had been picking on a girl I liked, and I stood up against them. I ended up blacking out from one punch. Not one of my finer moments. I only found out later that I fainted before the guy even hit me.
I glanced around and noticed the rain was calming down. I took a deep breath in and exhaled. I felt her weight sink down into me.
“Amelia,” she said.
“Matthew.”
“I know.”
“It’s an honor that the Demon of Sunset knows my name,” I said.
“It’s Amelia.” I felt a shard of ice from her words. I guess she wasn’t too keen on her title. It was given to her after a huge fight took place down by the riverside. It was forty to one, and when the police showed up, she was the last one standing at sunset. “I know a lot more about you than you know.”
“Great,” I thought.
“SA President, top three in the whole school when it comes to grades. You hate pineapple and think peanut butter on pizza is good. Which, by the way, is a sin that deserves a beating. You go to Frank’s dojo downtown to get over your fear of fighting. Which helped because you no longer faint when attacked.”
“You writing a book on me.”
She slapped me. I looked at her with watery eyes. She just grinned.
“Sorry,” she said.
What sadistic woman is this?
She stopped smiling and shook her head. Some of her hair had gotten stuck to her face. She wiped her face clean and opened her eyes. They were different than before. Softer. It reminded me of a cat—soft and longing.
“Sorry, impulse.”
“Do you mind getting off me?” I asked.
“Are you going to run again?”
I pondered the thought. “No.”
She slowly got up, and I scrambled up and ran. I just needed to get home for this nightmare to be over. I didn’t need to see the softer side of this demon, and I didn’t need to understand her motives. She’s just like the rest of them, violent and out of control. A simple twister tossed into a closed room full of puppies. It’s my job to save those puppies. I am the enforcer, and the rules are my fists. There is no need to beat someone black and blue.
I dashed from street light to street light, making sure I didn’t trip or slip in the rain. A shadow of shadows, I sped up. “She has my bag,” I thought. “Maybe I can work around it. I could frame her for stealing it.” I looked back to see if she was following me. I didn’t see anything. Smiling, I slowed down and stopped. I search around looking for her but only saw the trail of illuminated circles from the lights. I was standing in the middle of one of the rings.
The rain felt warm. I looked up and really let the rain and light soak in. I had a new edge. The night wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Yet I stood there somewhat sick with my thoughts. “Was she waiting for me? Why? Maybe she wanted a change and join us in the light.” I turned and was about to leave when I heard some footsteps stopping behind me. I felt something hard press into my back.
“I don’t like liars.”
“Persistent,” I said.
“When I find something I like, I don’t let go.”
“What’s that supposed to mean,” I thought. She turned me around, pulled me in close. I was slightly shorter than her, and her eyes were a deep blue compared to my dark brown eyes. A sweet scent crossed my nose. It smelt nice.
“What do you want?”
“To make you notice me.”
“Congrats, I’m fully aware of you now.”
“Good, see you tomorrow,” she said.
A warm sensation coursed through my body. She pressed her lips against mine. I closed my eyes and was completely taken away with the moment, my legs losing feeling and my strength melting away. A couple of minutes had gone by as we exchanged breaths with each other. Then she was gone.
I opened my eyes, and I was on the asphalt again, not on my back this time. I had my arms propping me up so it wouldn’t get wet again. Dazed, I stared down the street as Amelia disappeared in and out of the street lights. I looked down by my feet to see my bag and umbrella there.
I stood up and grabbed my things. I could feel my heart trying to beat out my chest. “Come on, stop, please stop.” A bang was shot off in my body, and the horses were off to the races. My adrenaline just kept pumping me up. Mixed emotions were ricocheting inside me. I turned and stopped. Her words rang in my head. “Hers? What the hell just happened?”
