Adra_Collins

Hello again everyone! This is a second of the Elsewhere chapters. This one takes place on the same day as chapter 7

Elsewhere

2 

Calamity

“Is it okay to fall in love with someone after only knowing them for about a month?” 

My reflection in the cascading wall of fountain water naturally doesn’t reply back. I suspect she wouldn’t know the answer to the question either. 

No class today. Roxie is committed to studying. So I get to fuck around town all day and just…think. 

I slash a line with my paw through the water, the cold sensation adding to my muscle tension as the water began soaking through my fur.

I hop off my perch on the fountain’s edge, dart across the square and hop up a pillar; my claws find nooks and crannies along the side of a wall as I climb up and away to the roof of a deli. 

I’m watching the people below prepare for the Gremlin Night Festival, setting up lemonade stands, gift baskets, and carts that will sell prop swords. I also smell the meat inside the deli—roast beef.

Haven’t eaten yet today. I can feel the tension in my stomach. The sensation reminds me I’m due for menstruation and all the gender-affirming ‘joy’ that comes with it. . 

I sit down on a ledge, legs dangling gently. There are birds nearby, cooing and chirring on either side of me. They remember me. At least, I think so. 

I hate thinking. 

I hold out my paw. Fingers splayed wide. I can picture the armor on it. Shaped silver that's shiny and well-polished with symbols of gleaming yellow and purple. 

One of my mother’s great-aunts spent a long time living in the first settlements, gathering fruits and fungus, some meant for meals, others for magic.

I respect her. But that's not my life. Not for me. I can’t stand standing still. 

Also, I can’t stand sitting still, either.

I stand up again and hop forward, an electricity rushes through me as I fall. I throw my handpaws below me as fast I can, the air collecting with magic. My fall isn’t slowed one bit, but the impact is reduced to that of a hop forward on level ground. 

“Nice landing, Fissure.” My eyes close when I hear that taunting voice. Not a flinch… just a moment to process. 

“Fuck off, Briar.” 

“I almost didn’t recognize you without your new pet.” 

I walk past her. I can hear Briar’s boots press across the concrete to catch up to me. She hates me and yet insists on pestering me every moment I’m alone. 

“Roxanne isn’t a pet, Briar; but considering you were dropped on your head when we were younger I can’t say I expect you to tell the difference.” 

She scoffed, “Funny coming from the one who did the dropping.” 

“Do you have a point in bothering me today, or are we just doing the same dance where you try to be pissy at me 'cause I’m in your territory?”

“I don't know, what do you think?”

“I’m thinking if you really like me so much you should just say it.” I smirk. “Considering how often you go out of your way to find me when neither of us get anything out of it.”  

“Just a simple reiteration of what I’ve always said.” She tried to step in on me. I didn’t move. “You’re not meant to be happy. Make little-miss-bright-eye leave you alone, or I make things real unpleasant.”

“Well, I’d tell her, but my dear Roxie has a mind of her own so I think I’ll let her decide if I need to be on my lonesome by her own-some.”

And with that, the dance began. 

Her arm swings at me. 

She came at me alone today. I’m not sure why. 

I pull backward, she pushes forward again 

As she approaches, I change direction and rush to meet her. I push forward, our shoulders glance off each other, and I let my momentum spin me on my heel in a full rotation as I slip past her. 

I take one step forward, then glance behind me in time to duck as Briar’s kick meets empty air. 

Step 1. Step 2. Turn. Step 1 again. 

She grunts as she takes a swipe with her open hand, her nails aren’t long, but still sharp. 

No casting item. The fight wasn’t planned. 

Impulsive. I got her. 

I duck one more time beneath her kick.  

Focus magic, push into her chest with open palm. The magic cushion of air glows, knocking her back a few feet onto her back. 

I stand over her. “We really gotta stop doing this fight or flight thing, Briar.”

She stared up at me with a perpetual hatred; hatred she’d held toward me since…

Since…

I catch the memory and force it down. Her words pull me back to the present, “I’m never gonna forgive you for what you did.”

I inhale deeply, stepping back and forcing my shoulders down. “Yeah…me neither.” 

Briar winced. For the first time in a long time, I saw something in her beyond the facade of jealous anger. 

Sadness. 

I sighed. I pulled back further from her and turned away. “See you at school.” 

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t follow me. 

As I walked I felt the familiar lurch in my stomach and a tightening of muscles below that. 

Great. Now the cramps are here. Thanks, Briar. Bitch.

Still haven’t eaten. And now it’s that time of the month. 

Being a girl sucks sometimes. 

Not getting to enjoy Gremlin Night, I guess.

Damn it. 

Adra_Collins

I have an internal document; Calamity is the only character in the book who can say "Fuck." Also I don't mean to alarm you all but I think Calamity might be a little gay.