Guest From the Future

Trouble in the match

Ivie didn't think about anything as she sprinted from the forest, rounded the corner of the dorm building, went through the back of the school and slipped into the locker room. Coach Kene looked like he would have bitten her head off, but for the match.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" He thundered, his training whistle dangling from around his neck where it was hung. The locker was already filled with her teammates as they readied for the match, and some of them paused to watch. Gaga led the front line.

Say something, say something. "Something came up." Sweat nestled her forehead, her gum torturously aching. But she pushed it to the back of her mind, if she thought about it, losing her fan— "Let's go win!" she declared.

Her positivity broke a grin on Coach Kene's face. How would he have known that it came from a place of pain and confusion, human as he was.

From where Gaga led her staring team, they gaped at her, their eyes widening in their sockets. Gaga managed to mouth, "What happened to your fang?"

She gestured and said they would talk about it later.

"Alright girls," Coach Kene clapped. "I'm ready when you are."

"We're ready!" They chorused and started to leave the locker. As they moved, Gaga rushed to walk by Ivie's side. "At least tell me where you're going so I can give the coach a proper lie."

"Sorry."

Gaga pointed at her mouth. "Your fang."

She ran her tongue over where it would have been to be sure. "I'll tell you later."

But Gaga looked too worried to agree. "Are you sure you can play?"

She looked surprised that she had asked. "Of course, I'm captain."

"It's a huge deal, Ivie. We don't lose fangs, we'll in this case, fang," she was eyeing the hole the missing tooth created, "and go on to act like all is fine."

"What do I tell Coach then? He's not supposed to know we're vampires."

"You can tell Mast—"

"CAPTAIN!" Coach Kene's voice was thunderous coming from the threshold of the door.

Ivie looked at her friend apologetically. "I have to go. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

The bleacher was already filled with students, their voices in a joyous roar. Ivie's team Underdog Fountain were up against Half-Elite Rangers, the former wearing purple, while the latter wore blue.

Chi stood on the sideline with Agatha as they watched the players step into the pitch. He saw Ivie, she appeared brave but he could tell she was shaking. The fang she left on the floor now laid inside his pocket, he waved at her. "Go, bring victory home!" He shouted, his voice barely a whisper among the noises from the crowd.

"Since when were you a dedicated fan?" Agatha asked, her eyes fixed on a certain coach.

"Shh, don't distract me."

"What mischief do you plan on achieving? We all know that whatever you lay your eyes on is doomed for disaster," she said.

"You judge intent, Agatha. Does it appear wrong that I support the team of a beloved friend?"

"I would have believed that to be me the same way I would have believed fish to have wings," Kene said, joining them after he tapped his players into the pitch. For a moment, his gaze held with Agatha's.

Chi stared at him, confused. "Don't they? I held in mind that every once in a while, they develop wings to see the outside world. The world must appear so bleak when oft seen from down below, don't you?"

The score sat frozen on the massive digital display, a 0-0, Underdog Fountain- Half-Elite Rangers. The players took position, the referee's whistle cut through the roar of the capacity crowd, a sharp silver blast that signaled the war had begun.

Ivie put all her energy into the match, distracting herself from the pain that pulled at her gum. Under the sun, her shadow had come out and was shouting, "Show them what we got!"

She heard Coach Kene shouting muffled instructions over the rhythmic chanting of the other students as he paced around.

"Pass the ball!" she shouted over to her teammate who appeared to be losing against the Half-elite. "Good," she said as the ball moved. "Speed and power. Gaga, take position."

"Quicker. Don't let the ball sit still!" Kene instructed when the ball was passed to Gaga. "The Rangers don't give you two seconds, they give you half of one!"

"f**k!" she cursed when the ball was taken from them. Of course their opponents were Half-elites, powerful and quicker than anything a turned like them could be. She saw Ehiz, the Half-elite captain pull out a tongue at her. She moved with grace, like she didn't have to try. "Block her, don't let her score!" she instructed the defenders when she noticed Ehiz nearly their goalpost.

She ran forward, following the ball. Her shadow had joined the others at the bleachers, and when one paid a closer attention to Ivie on that field, you could see she had no shadow. But too focused on the match, who would have such time? Perhaps only Roman Pattinson would. He had a silent regard on his face as he watched her move.

"If you get the ball, you move fast!" Coach Kene shouted. "Don't wait! Kick it deep!" He doubted they could barely hear him, but it was a thing of habit anyway.

At one side of the bleacher, the school's Headmaster, Master Dennis sat, the school keeper, Balthazar, by his side. Events like this were the only time Balthazar didn't give students detention for laughing too hard or having a scowl on their face.

Ivie moved back to protect the goalpost, the goal was not to win, but not to be won. Coach Kene did not understand as he was a human, but what chances did turned have against originals?

She saw the ball coming, heard the expectant cheering of the crowd in favour of the Half-elite. She positioned with the speed of a human and tactics of a vampire, ready to take it on. Suddenly, a wave of weakness hit her, her vision blurred, the ball doubling in her eyes. They heard Coach Kene's voice, he was telling her to strike the ball, but she didn't know which. She decided on the left. Her leg struck through air when she kicked, missing the ball completely, she landed on her bottom. Luckily Gaga covered her back and caught the ball.

The crowd ooed, the referee blew his whistle and Gaga rushed to her. She sat, shocked to immobility at how weak she felt.

"You good?" Gaga asked as she offered her hand, then her eyes went wide in horror. "Your eyes."

"What, what's wrong with them?"

Before she could answer, the referee, Emma, came upon them. "Good girls? Captain?"

"Yes."

They resumed the match, but Ivie could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

When the referee's whistle was cut for half time, she almost sighed. They headed to the locker room and it turned into a sanctuary of heavy breathing. She felt parched, but this time, it was not for blood. She reached for a water bottle instead. One. Two. Something was wrong, she felt it.

"Are you okay?" Gaga asked coming to share her blood-inside-coke-outside can.

Ivie paused, unsure of what was happening, then shook her head at the coke.

"Your eyes," Gaga started to say. "You should see Master Dennis—"

"After the match." She sprang up, pushing the forest out of her mind, now, she was a captain.

"Then look at the mirror and see—"

"After the match!" She turned away and moved to join her other team mates who Kene was addressing, "...naught is a dangerous scoreline, we need one crack in their goalpost, let's not end in a draw."

If they were being honest, the Underdogs, they didn't really have a chance against their opponent but when a bunch of turned vampires had a human coach who didn't know and who wasn't supposed to know vampires existed, they had to pretend a lot could be possible.

When he stepped out, Ivie drew her team together to whisper,

"Naught is a dangerous scoreline but it's not a death sentence. Those Elites are going to come out like a house on fire," she warned, pointing a finger at his defenders. "They're frustrated, and they're going to get physical. We hold this tie for the first fifteen of the second half, and their spirit will break. Do not let them breathe."

When the whistle signalled the start of the second half, the atmosphere at the field became thick enough to choke on. They played, the score remaining a tie, until the match was almost over. The Underdog defended, they didn't chase the ball, they blocked it. They didn't want to score, they wanted not to be scored.

"Damn it!" Coach Kene sighed frustratedly wondering what his team was doing. "Move it! MOVE IT!"

Chi covered his ears at the sound.

"One minute!" Emma yelled over the din.

Ivie lungs felt like they were filled with hot ash. Every time she breathed, the gap in her teeth sent a sharp, cold reminder of a part of her she had left in the forest.

"Cindy! Move!" Ehiz, the Half-elite captain screamed, her voice cracking with desperation. One goal, one goal was all they needed.

In that final minute, with the score frozen in a tie, Ivie caught the ball. Coach Kene held his breath. She broke past the Half-elite defense, her lungs burning. She saw the goalpost. Then a surge of the bitter, metallic taste of Chi's blood, the one she tried to expel earlier, hit the back of her throat. Her equilibrium shattered.

The world tilted 180 degrees. In a blur of cold sweat and a stabbing pain in her gum, Ivie didn't see the Half-elite goalpost anymore. She saw a net, and she drove the ball into it with every ounce of her remaining strength.

The ball hit the back of the net with a sound like a thunderclap, tearing the mesh right off the posts.

The whistle blew.

Ivie dropped to her knees, heaving for air.

There was silence.