Chapter Nine
January 7th, 12:02 AM
"Oh God," Margot thought. "Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."
There were about a thousand sensations hitting her at once.
First of all: she was cold. It was midnight in January in the park, and here she was in nothing but a little long-sleeved bikini and boots. She had placed her hands on her hips to show authority and confidence. What she hoped no one saw was how much she was shivering.
She was excited. Her heart had been racing ever since she had received Erin's call. Now, as she watched this kid approach her, watched him saunter down the dirt path, her whole chest was practically vibrating. She was the Blue Lynx now, and she was about to fight this man. It was pretty fun to think about.
But it was nerve-wracking, too. She looked beyond the kid and into the parking lot, and she thought she saw Erin's face in the back of his car. (She couldn't tell for sure-- she had left her glasses in her own car-- they simply wouldn't cooperate with the Blue Lynx mask.) Erin's life and career-- all of it depended on this moment. She had got her friend out of jams before. But never had she done it in a way that was so... Explicit.
What to do now? Run at him? Or let him approach? Say something? Or stay silent? Throw a Lynx dart? Or a smoke bomb?
How did Erin think, when she was the Blue Lynx? Did she pick from certain options, one choice to the next, thinking through a plan of action? Or was it more spontaneous, instinctive? Was she ever scared? Anxious? Hopeless? Or did those emotions suddenly fall away once she found herself in the middle of a fight?
"Oh God," Margot thought. "Oh God..."
"Blue Lynx, it's been a long time," the kid said, now about ten yards away from her. "I've missed you so much."
Margot stayed still. "Say something," she thought. "Say something."
"Yeah," she said. "I'll, umm, bet you have."
The kid stopped. He squinted his eyes at her and frowned. "What have you done with your hair?"
"Oh," Margot said. "I dyed it."
The kid smiled. "I like it," he said, resuming his forward motion. "Looks good on you."
"Where's Erin Steele?" Margot said, making her voice gruff.
The kid pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "She's in the car. Unhurt. Tied up in her bra and panties. But not hurt."
Margot didn't know what to say. "Good," she finally coughed.
"She's been quite helpful. She told me she'd lead me to you. And here we are. After years of being apart."
Margot remembered the kid, this Jeremy. He was the same gangly redhead she had known in college. Same stupid voice, same weird obsessions. Only he seemed more confident now. He walked with a sense of purpose. And he'd maybe gotten bigger, somehow?
"This is it for you, Blue Lynx," he said, cracking his knuckles. "One more fight. And then I unmask you."
Margot shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. It was a lame line. But what else was there to say?
"I'm going to enjoy this," Jeremy said. He had quickened his pace, and was rapidly within a few yards of Margot.
She decided to make the first move. She tucked her fingers into one of the pockets of her belt and removed a smoke bomb. She lifted it in the hair and prepared to throw it. And then, in an instant, Jeremy was on her, grabbing her raised shoulder, pushing his body against hers, forcing the smoke bomb out of her hand and pushing her to the ground. The tiny pellet fell to the grass with an insignificant plop.
Margot speedily got on her hands and knees, her boots and gloves now stained with dirt and grass. But before she could raise herself any further, Jeremy was again next to her, slamming a knee into her shoulder, forcing her to fall on her back. "Unngh!" she cried, hitting the dirt.
Margot was already breathing heavily, her chest heaving in and out as Jeremy looked down on her, relishing the look of her sprawled-out body. "I've been training for years, Blue Lynx," he said, grabbing her by her wrists and yanking her to her feet. He placed one hand under her chin. "I've been training for this day."
He kicked out his foot and caught Margot on the back of her ankles, sweeping her boots from underneath her, throwing her again to the ground. Margot clutched at her back and winced. He was... pummeling her.
She had to get away. She rolled onto her hands and knees and began to crawl. But she'd barely gotten a few feet apart before she felt Jeremy's hands on her ankle. He jerked her backward, and her hands flew out in front of her, sending her face into the dirt with a loud "OOF!"
"I've gotten faster," Jeremy said, moving his hands up Margot's leg, and pulling her body along the ground. "And I've gotten stronger."
Margot tried to sink her fingers into the dirt, but Jeremy yanked her loose each time, and soon he was on top of her again, clutching the back of her head with one hand, holding her face in the air while she sat on muddy, weakened knees.
"Meanwhile, you don't seemed to have learned much," he said, bringing his face around Margot's shoulder, staring into her eyes. "Have you gotten slower? Weaker?"
Jeremy placed his foot on Margot's lower back and pushed, dropping her back to the ground, face-first. Her gloves, boots, costume, face, and hair were now covered in mud and grime and grass. She coughed. How could she beat this guy? He was obviously her superior physically. She hadn't gotten a single punch in...
She grabbed a pile of loose dirt, turned around, and flung the debris into Jeremy's face. Jeremy shut his eyes, waved his hands, stepped backward. "Cheater!" he yelled, scraping at his face with his fingers.
Here was Margot's chance. She pushed herself up to her feet and stepped toward Jeremy, who was now yelling and frantically waving his hands. She reached into another belt pocket, looking for a Lynx dart. "A quick stab to the arm out to take him down a peg," Margot thought, moving within feet of her foe, holding the small weapon out in front of her, when out of the blue, a flying fist connected with her jaw, spinning her body around on its axis. Margot blinked her eyes in a daze, rolling her head around on her neck, stepping haphazardly in a wide circle, before finally crumpling to ground.
She lay on the cold grass in a half-conscious state, dreamily watching as Jeremy removed the dirt from his eyes. He bent down toward her, shaking his head the whole time, and placed a hand on the inside of her thigh.
"Wow. Beaten by a blind man," Jeremy chuckled, stroking Margot's bare skin. He placed his other hand on her forehead and pushed her red hair out of her face. "You're not what you used to be, Blue Lynx."
He reached into the unbuttoned pocket of Margot's belt and pulled out a handful of Lynx darts. He looked at them, shook his head, and dropped them to the ground with small, metallic clinks.
"You were going to stab me with one of those? That would've hurt."
He snapped the flap of Margot's belt shut and crawled on top of her, straddling her, placing his hands on top of her breasts, flicking at the edge of her spandex outfit. He found a loose part of Margot's red bra strap and played with it, his broad smile taking up more and more of his face. She was helpless, and he was delighted.
"No," Margot thought. "I can't... Lose... I can't. Not like this..."
"It's the end of the line, Blue Lynx," Jeremy said, sliding his hands up around Margot's throat. He applied a small bit of pressure; not enough to choke her, but enough to send the message that he had her, that she couldn't escape, that she had been defeated. "I've been waiting for this for a long, long, long time."
He kept one hand clasped around Margot's throat and moved the other up to her face. He looked into her eyes, which were still flashing in and out of consciousness, and stroked her cheek.
"I only get to do this once," Jeremy said. "So I'm going to do it right. Nice and slow."
He squeezed his legs together, pressing Margot's arms to her sides, and leaned forward, slipping the thumb of his free hand under the lower edge of the blue mask. Margot couldn't speak, couldn't protest, could only mouth the word "No" as Jeremy eased his thumb up her face, gradually dragging the mask along with it. Her vision temporarily went blue as the fabric passed over her eyes, and then she was once again looking into Jeremy's face, and Jeremy was laughing-- shaking with laughter-- as he gazed down at her face, unmasked.
On to Chapter Ten
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